Tales of Zesteria: This is Our World
by Blue The Writer
Summary: Sorey is finally awake after six hundred years. He's ready to see what all in the world. But there's corruption throughout the church despite the land finally being pure. Without his Shepherd powers, he takes off for another journey. Rated T for language and violence.
1. Chapter 1: New World

Blue: Hey everyone, this is yet another tales of fic that will be a sequel to its game. This is also part of my attempt to connect all the games into one crazy timeline. And lastly this fic is also a collaboration with my good friend Mirianetta, the same person working with me on the Tales of Danganronpa. The basic concept of this story was her idea and a few ocs Her ideas and characters intrigued me that I just had to write a story about them. So I created a few ocs of my own and we worked on the story together.

Mirianetta: So I hope you enjoy Blue's writing and our collaboration with the story!

Blue: Obviously, this has no tie in with Tales of Danganronpa. That's its own thing.

Read, review, enjoy.

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Tales of Zestiria: This Is Our World

Chapter 1: New World

Sorey stepped out of the ruins into the sunlight and took a deep breath of the fresh air. He stretched his arms like he'd been stuck in the same position for a long time. In reality he had been, although he wasn't sure just how long exactly.

Although he had lost so much time, he couldn't help but feel a bit of excitement at the thought of seeing how different everything was. His friend Mikleo was already different. He was even taller than Sorey now.

"You're acting like you're just seeing sunlight for the first time in ages?" The voice of his friend Mikleo said in a light tone.

Sorey turned around and looked at his lifelong friend. "Well it kind of has," Sorey admitted. "This is the first time since I woke up."

That startled Mikleo a bit. "Then how did you end up here? This isn't even close to Camlann."

"Easy," Sorey answered. "Maolelus sent me through an earthpulse point. He was nice enough to send me close to seraphim I knew." Of course Sorey had no idea that it was going to be Mikleo. He'd been so excited when he was dropped off in the ruins and of course stumbled upon Mikleo. Other than Mikleo's appearance, nothing seemed to have changed between them. Sorey was so relieved. Not much was said between them after Sorey caught him from falling.

"Well that was nice of him, I'd hate to see what you would have done on your own. The world is a lot different," Mikleo said.

"Oh come on, I could have managed," Sorey playfully argued.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that," Mikleo joked.

Sorey just shook his head. "Anyway, how long has it been?"

Mikleo seemed to have to think about it. "About six hundred years."

It didn't quite hit Sorey that he'd missed that much. The human friends he'd made were long gone and the seraphim he knew had done so much in that time. "That long huh?" Sorey muttered. Right now, that only seemed like a number and not his new reality.

Suddenly there was large rumbling noise. The two of them were silent for a moment before both of the friends started to laugh. Mikleo started to chuckle. "You should probably eat something since it's been six hundred years since your last meal," he joked. "Come on, there's a village nearby." The seraphim then started leading the way down the steps of the ruins.

Sorey quickly followed. His curiosity started to overcome his hunger though. As he looked back at the ruins, Sorey asked, "So these ruins, did you find anything interesting?"

"Well I didn't get too far until I ran into you," the seraphim told him.

"You mean before I saved you?" Sorey said with a bit of a mocking jap.

"For the record, the fall wouldn't have hurt me," he answered matter of factly. But the seraphim softened a bit when he added, "But thanks. I'm glad you're back."

"It's good to be back even though it honestly hasn't felt that long," Sorey admitted. "And I can't wait to see how different things are."

He was expecting his friend to start telling him. But he didn't. Mikleo just stayed quiet as they walked through the forest path.

Their path was lined with stone pillars, all of which either partially destroyed, or worn away. Sorey kept trying to figure out where they were, but didn't recognize the area or even the ruins behind them. Of course, it had been six hundred years. Everything would be different. For all he knew, places he did know were probably now ruins.

Eventually the silence between them grew unbearable for Sorey. He couldn't believe that his friend wasn't saying more. So he decided to talk about something he knew Mikleo would want to talk about. "So the ruins we were at, do you have anything about them from the little you looked at them?"

"Not sure yet, I only looked into this one because a friend of mine asked me to," Mikleo answered simply. "I've been looking into a lot of ruins lately."

His response startled Sorey. A friend asked him to look at the ruins and not because of his own desire? Sorey waited for Mikleo to go on, but the seraphim didn't add anything more. Surely his friend hadn't lost his passion for ruin exploration? "Well what does the architecture tell you? Are there any giveaways that tell you that it could have happened after the era of Asgard?"

"That wasn't why I was looking into it," Mikleo replied. "So I didn't really look too closely at the ruins for something like that."

And the seraphim didn't add anymore. Sorey couldn't believe what he was hearing from Mikleo. He ran in front of the seraph. "Seriously Mikleo, what is going on?"

It was Mikleo's turn to look startled. But he quickly composed himself. Mikleo patted Sorey on the shoulder. "It's nothing," he told him. "There's just a lot to tell you. It would be better for you to hear it all with a full stomach."

The seraph started leading again. The response annoyed Sorey a bit. But he followed Mikleo and said, "It better be a long discussion."

Mikleo chuckled a bit at that. "Of course, we have six hundred years' worth of catching up to do."

/~/~/

Hunger really started to affect Sorey after walking for about an hour. But to his relief, Mikleo announced, "Here we are, Salutem Village."

Sorey perked up a bit. They had been walking deep through the forest and came upon a clearing. The title of village might have been too luxurious since there were really only about five building made of stone. Of course Sorey was filled with a sense of nostalgia walking into the village. He did, however, find it strange that there were small stones that lined the clearing and a stone archway. It wasn't until Sorey got closer that he could feel a domain. Then he figured that was what the stones were for, to visually mark where the domain ended. But this only led Sorey to more questions.

Especially when a bunch of kids started running up to them and a couple of them even shouted, "Mikleo's back."

About seven kids ran up to them and all of them gathered around Mikleo, asking things like, "What ruins did you find?", "Did you bring anything back for us?", or even "Can you make us some ice cream?"

Sorey was so startled that he looked closer at the children. Boys and girls of varying ages, but all younger than Sorey by several years. They were definitely human children. "Mikleo, they can see you?" Sorey asked in complete disbelief. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Well a few of them can see me," Mikleo corrected as he patted one kid on the head. "Most of them can only hear me."

"But that's amazing," Sorey said. He couldn't believe that there were this many in one place with high enough resonance. He never thought he'd see the day.

"That's enough kids," a new voice said. It was another kid, but he looked like he was close to Sorey's age. He was dressed in plain clothes like the rest of them and had short blonde hair. But what startled Sorey was that his eyes were white. "Leave Mikleo alone. You all still have plenty of chores to do before supper."

Most of the kids pouted, but they left to go finish what they had been doing. However one little girl paused and looked at Sorey. "So are you in hiding like the rest of us?" She asked.

Sorey just looked at the little girl in utter confusion? "What?" Was all Sorey could say to that.

"Emmy that's a bit rude to just ask that," the boy that was close to Sorey's age told her. He had a walking stick in his hand and gently nudged the girl with it. "Go on, you can talk with the new guy later."

Emmy just pouted, but she ran back to the task she had been performing before Sorey and Mikleo got there. The boy smiled at Sorey. "Sorry, she means well. She just asks that to all the new people, even the seraphim."

 _Wait, humans and seraphim live here?_ Sorey wondered. But another thing was still bothering him. "But why did she ask if I was in hiding?" He tried asking.

But he was ignored. Mikleo looked at the boy and said, "Isaiah, will you go get Shaun?"

The boy named Isaiah dropped his smile. "Must be serious. Does it have to do with those ruins?" He asked.

"Not really, just tell him I have Sorey, he'll understand," Mikleo answered. "We'll be in the kitchen."

Isaiah nodded and started walking with his walking stick before him.

"Shaun? You don't mean-" Sorey quickly started to ask.

"Yeah, same guy," Mikleo answered as he motioned for Sorey to follow him.

"But why's he here?" Sorey quickly asked. "Did something happen to Elysia?" The Shaun Sorey knew never wanted to leave the village and had said on multiple occasions that nothing good was out in the outside world.

"Elysia's fine," Mikleo reassured. "It's just a lot has happened while you were gone."

Sorey froze for a bit. But he quickly shook his head. He would have to get used to this. Things were different. This was basically a new world to him.

So he quickly followed Mikleo to the larger of the stone buildings. Some smoke was coming out of the top of it and Sorey could smell food. They entered to find a few benches and tables. At the end of the room was the kitchen where the food was being prepared by two human kids and two seraphim, an earth and a wind.

The earth seraphim didn't look up from her work and just said, "You little rascals it's not dinner time, and no I'm not give you all any snacks."

But the wind seraph looked over at them and her face lit up. "Mikleo," she called out and was running enthusiastically toward the water seraph with her hands up. However Mikleo just kept walking toward the other seraphim who had confused them for someone else.

The wind seraph that had noticed Mikleo first had disappointment clear on her face and even hung her head low. Sorey wasn't sure what to do and was about to follow after Mikleo but the girl seraph's face brightened a bit as she looked at Sorey. He scratched the back of his head and started to introduce himself. "Um, I'm So-"

"Wait, don't tell me," she suddenly declared and clapped her hands together. She had short green hair and a pretty muscular body for a slim young woman. She had on a white sleeveless crop top and black capris. "You're Sorey, right?"

Now Sorey was really uncomfortable. How in the world did she know him? "I'm sorry, but have we meet before?" Sorey asked. He was pretty sure he'd never seen her before now.

But she shook her head. "Oh no, but Mikleo always talks about you. So I feel like all of us here have known you for just as long. I'm so happy I get to meet you finally. I'm Rime by the way."

"Oh, uh...nice to meet you," Sorey told as he tried to get over how forward she was. She at least seemed friendly enough.

Just then she grabbed both of his hand and started to shake them. "I can't wait to become good friends with you."

"Um, same," Sorey told her. He quickly glanced over at Mikleo for help. But it was the seraph Mikleo had been talking to that helped him out. "Rime, leave the boy alone and get back to cooking," she told Rime.

Rime looked a bit annoyed, but dropped Sorey's hand to go back to work. But not before saying to him, "Let's talk more later, 'kay?"

Sorey wasn't sure how to respond to her. But he didn't have to because Mikleo returned with a plate full of food and Sorey's attention changed. He sat down at the nearest table, but didn't dig in before asking Mikleo, "So, tell me what's been going on?"

His friend still didn't look like he wanted to talk. But he sat across from Sorey and began. "Well it's been awhile since I've spoken with the others, but last I heard was that Lailah and Edna are working with the church and Zavied's just traveling around."

Sorey was relieved to hear the others were okay. After eating a mouthful, Sorey then asked, "What do you mean they're working with the church?"

"Oh, shepherds are now synonymous with the church," Mikleo started to explain. "In fact the Pope is a shepherd too."

Sorey couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So are there that many shepherds working in the church?" It was no wonder why there were so many more people with high enough resonance.

"Well not that many have the power of purification. There are only seven known seraphim that have that power and all of them are currently being used by the church," Mikleo clarified. "But there are still plenty of people in the church with high resonance who made pacts with seraphim just to combat hellions and defend people. Basically the church is almost completely run by people with high resonance and are tethered to seraphim."

Technically there were only seven shepherds. But still. It was such an improvement. And there were that many people with high enough resonance. Sorey couldn't help but smile. A world where humans and seraphim could live together was coming closer.

"Sorey, you really are back," a familiar voice said.

Sorey turned around and saw Shaun. Nothing much has changed about the earth seraph. "Shaun," Sorey called out.

The earth seraph walked over to them and sat down next to him. The boy named Isaiah also joined them. "I'm so happy to see you back," Shaun started to say. "When Mikleo told us what happened," the seraph paused and Sorey knew he was remembering all that happened after their fight with Heldolf. And what happened with Gramps. Sorey felt his heart ache as he thought about him. Then Shaun forced a smile and continued, "All the seraphim from Elysia will be so happy to see you again."

"So what made you leave Elysia?" Sorey asked him. "You never really had any desire to leave before."

"I wasn't the only seraph to leave Elysia," Shaun told him. "It just wasn't the same there without you or Lord Zenrus. When Mikleo told us what you did, a few of us just didn't feel right staying in one place. So we left to try and do something. And here I am practically guarding a discounted Elysia."

Now that he mentioned it, Sorey could tell the the domain belonged to Shaun. It was nothing like Gramps', but it was still impressive. Sorey had no idea that the other seraphim in Elysia had this much power. "So what exactly is this village?" Sorey asked. "I've only seen kids here."

Everyone grew still and Shaun looked at Mikleo. "You didn't tell him?"

"I was getting to that," Mikleo answered.

"Tell me what?" Sorey asked. Was this what they were hiding from him?

There was a pause and it was Isaiah who gave Sorey his answer. "This village only has children because they were either abandoned by their parents due to their high resonance, or they're hiding from the church."

Now Sorey understood why Mikleo wanted him to eat before he told him because he completely lost his appetite. "What?" Was all Sorey could get out.

"In a lot of small and backwoods villages, people don't fully understand the differences between seraphim and hellions," Mikleo started to explain. "So when a child suddenly starts acting different because they see or hear things others can't, they just assume they've turned into a hellion. So they'll just throw the child away to save the village or worse."

Sorey stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "But why? The church has the power of purification. They can save the child if that was the case," Sorey spat. He really felt sick now.

"Here's where it gets a bit complicated," Shaun began. "There are maybe only three shepherds that actually travel around purifying. They generally stay in large cities with large shrines. So most of the time people have to travel to one of the shrines to have loved ones saved or they have to spend an absurd amount of gald to call a shepherd to their village. Most people don't have the money to get help so they think putting their child out of their misery is the best."

"Not to mention that there are countless rumors that the church will just massacre whole families because they think they're more likely to become hellions again," Mikleo said bitterly. "Although I've not seen any proof of this." He was quick to add that last part.

"But humans don't need proof to fear or have doubt," Shaun said.

 _And that could even make them turn into hellions themselves,_ Sorey thought bitterly. He shook his head. "But why would they hide from the church, they'd be able to see that they aren't hellions."

"And that's the other part of the problem," Shaun began. "Though the church practically has presence everywhere, they're still desperate for numbers of people who can actually see hellions and seraphim."

"Sometimes the church raids small cities and captures anyone with high resonance," Mikleo continued. "Then they make them fight really strong hellions. The casualty rate is really high for new members."

"So a lot of families have their children run off with the seraphim so they'll at least be safe from the church," Isaiah summed up.

"We do the best we can to save as many of the young ones as we can, but obviously we can't reach all of them in time," Shaun finished.

Sorey didn't want to believe any of this. How could this happen? How could the shepherds become so corrupted? "But what about Lailah and Edna? Surely they're not a part of all this?"

"I'm sure they're not," Mikleo tried to reassure. "If I had to guess they're probably trying to change things from the inside. You know the two of them wouldn't put up with any of that."

Sorey didn't say anything. All of this was just so hard to swallow. He wanted to get sick.

"But with you back, that means the land is pure again," Shaun started to say. "Things can only get better now."

"Yeah Sorey," Mikleo chimed in. "Nature will flourish and that will at least decrease in the amount of hellions created from the corrupted land. So then the church won't need the numbers as much. Maotelus' blessing has returned."

They were trying to cheer him up and give him hope. Maybe they were right. The land did just fully get purified. Give it a couple of years and things were bound to get better. But that didn't help Sorey's unease. He couldn't stand by and do nothing.

/~/~/

It hadn't been long before the rest of the children came in for dinner and Sorey didn't get a chance to ask more questions. There were over thirty kids and five other seraphim living here. About fourteen of the kids could only hear the seraphs in the room, as Mikleo told him earlier. Seeing this many people eating and talking with the seraphim like friends and family did bring joy to Sorey. This was his proof that his dream was possible and within reach.

But something had to be done with the system the church had in place.

Eventually Isaiah led Sorey to the boys sleeping quarters because the younger kids kept asking Sorey where he came from. It was hard to come up with something to tell them since they probably wouldn't be able to comprehend that Sorey had basically been asleep for the last six hundred years to purify Maotelus. That was when Isaiah suggested that Sorey was tired from his long journey and needed to get some rest. Sorey took that opportunity.

The boys house had several pallets and hammocks along the walls. Isaiah said that the pallet near the door wasn't taken and that Sorey was free to use it. "Also I suggest pretending to sleep when the other kids get here," he warned. "But no guarantee they won't make sure to see if you really asleep."

"Thanks," Sorey said as he took his shepherd's mantel off.

He strangely did feel tired despite basically being asleep for six hundred years. Sorey was about to settle down when Isaiah suddenly said, "It's just so strange that the Sorey that Shaun and Mikleo always talked about is actually here now."

"They really talked about me that much, huh?" Sorey asked.

"You could say you were almost like a bedtime story to us," Isaiah started. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around that you're not some fictional character."

"I would imagine that it would be hard to believe," Sorey admitted. Even he was having a hard time coming to terms that he was even here and that Maotelus was purified. "If you don't mind me asking, do you know how long this village has been around?"

"I can't give you an exact number," Isaiah answered. "But from what Shaun told me, it's been around since church started taking in children for their ranks. All of us here learn some skills and when we're ready, we'll leave to rejoin society and try to hide if we still wish."

"So how did you end up here?" Sorey asked next. He wanted to know more about what was going on.

"I'm actually from the capital of Rolance," Isaiah began in a normal tone. Then he pointed to his eyes. "As you've probably guessed, I'm blind and I was born like this. My mother never let me out of her sight because of this. I was five when she took me to the market for the first time. All the smells and sounds overwhelmed me and I ended up lost and in a deserted part of the city. That's when I met Mikleo. I heard him talking to himself and I went up to him crying saying I was lost. It took almost all day to find my mother."

It didn't hit Sorey till now that this might be a painful memory for him. But Isaiah kept going with no problem.

"My mother freaked out when she saw me holding a hand of someone she couldn't see. I had no idea there was anything different about him then. There was also no telling how many people saw me too. Apparently the church was really desperate for numbers then. I do remember the knight and orderlies marching through the city a lot. They made so much noise and had a lot of people with them each time. My mother threw herself on the ground and begged Mikleo to take me away. She was a very religious woman who prayed to seraphim every day. But she didn't want the risk of me being taken away by the church. So Mikleo brought me here."

It was so bad that people who probably sided with the church believed the rumors of people being forced to fight hellions. So bad a mother feared they would even use her blind child. It only made Sorey want to find the truth even more. "So do the seraphim just go out looking for people with high resonance?" Sorey asked.

"Basically," Isaiah answered. "Except for Shaun he has to stay so we can be safe in his domain. Mikleo doesn't go into human cities much though. He mainly does a lot of small jobs for Shaun, like looking into those nearby ruins."

"The Shaun I know never seemed to care for ruins before," Sorey commented.

"I think it has more to with just a weird feeling everyone gets when they're near it."

"What do you mean weird feeling?" Sorey tried to think back when he was in the ruins with Mikleo, but of course both of them were just so excited he was back that Sorey noticed little else.

"I've only been near them twice," Isaiah admitted. "But each time I've gotten this chill down my spine. There also aren't as many hellions near the ruins."

"Well I can certainly see why Shaun would be concerned," Sorey muttered. Sorey had thought it was just luck that they hadn't run into any hellions. But could the ruins be connected?

Before Sorey could think further on that, Isaiah then said, "Sounds like the kids are coming. Better play possum unless you want to be asked a million questions."

"Ah right," Sorey said as he quickly got underneath the covers before the other kids came in.

/~/~/

Sorey didn't get much sleep because his mind kept racing with everything he learned about this new world he was in. When morning came, his mind was set. He was going to the church and figure out what exactly was happening. Maybe even hear from Lailah and Edna.

He picked up his shepherd's cloak but paused before putting it on.

Technically he wasn't a shepherd anymore. But this was a job that only a shepherd could do. And Sorey needed to do this. So he put it back on.

Now he just needed to ask if he could take some supplies. It was when he opened the door that he saw Mikleo standing right outside with a travel bag in hand.

Sorey just blinked at his friend in confusion. "Are you going somewhere?" Sorey asked.

"Come on, I know you well enough. Even Shaun figured you wouldn't sit still after hearing all of that," Mikleo told him with a knowing smirk.

"But can you really leave?" Sorey asked. "It seems like you have a lot of responsibilities here."

"Part of my so called "responsibilities" is just to see what's going on in the world and make an occasional report back. Letters can work fine." Mikleo told him plainly. "Besides, Shaun and I agree that we couldn't let you go off on your own. You're likely to get into all kinds of trouble if you go back into human society by yourself."

"Come on, I could so handle myself," Sorey claimed jokingly.

Mikleo threw the bag at Sorey who nearly dropped it. "You coming, or not," his friend said and started walking to the entrance.

Sorey let out a small laugh before following him. "So, uh, what cities are nearby?" Sorey asked as he again realized that he had no idea where he was.

Mikleo smirked at him again. "Could handle yourself, huh?"

"I would have figured it out."

The water seraph just sighed. "There's a port town about a day away. If you're wanting to meet with the church, going by boat would be quickest."

"Alright then, led the way," Sorey said.

"Before we do," Mikleo interrupted. "Would you mind being my vessel?"

Sorey looked at his friend and said, "Well you don't even have to ask that. But are you that worried everything should be good now, right?"

But Mikleo shook his head. "Better safer than sorry. In all my travels, I've used Gramps' pipe as my vessel. It does the job. But when I've gone to bigger cities I've felt malevolence if I stay long."

"Man, when we first left Elysia we didn't even worry about you having a vessel," Sorey recalled. Of course it had been very reckless of them. They had gone to Ladylake that had a lot of malevolence that did affect Mikleo. In hindsight, Mikleo should have made Sorey his vessel at the very least.

"Things are different now," Mikleo started. "With all this paranoia over the church, it's bound to erupt and swallow up everything."

"A volcano of malevolence," Sorey muttered as he pictured the scene. If a seraphim got caught in that, it wouldn't be much different than if they were in a war zone. They wouldn't be able to escape in time.

Sorey shook his head of the image. "Well I said I'd be your vessel, Luzrov Rulay," Sorey said with a grin. He held up his fist to Mikleo.

Mikleo cracked a smile and bumped his fist with Sorey. "Well, what are we waiting for. We need to get a move on if we're going to make it to the port town before nightfall."

They hadn't taken five steps before the wind suddenly picked up. Sorey didn't really think much about it until a girl seemed to fall from the sky right in front of them. Both of them had to shield their eyes from the rising dust and when everything settled, they saw that it was Rime standing in front of them with a hand on her hip. "What the hell? You two are leaving without even saying goodbye?" She said in disbelief.

"You're right, I should probably thank everyone for their hospitality," Sorey started to say.

But it fell on deaf ears because Mikleo immediately asked Rime, "Wait, how did _you_ know we were leaving?"

"Details," Rime said as she just quickly dismissed the comment. "Anyway, I'm coming with you two," She just suddenly declared.

Both of them just looked at her in disbelief. "Not that I'm saying I don't appreciate it," Sorey started to ask, "but why do you want to come?"

"Well there's lots of reasons," she answered. "But I guess the main reason is that I just want to help. And what better way than to help out my friend Mikleo and new friend Sorey."

Sorey couldn't believe that she just wanted to help them. Did she even understand what they might be doing? But of course she probably wanted to stop what the church was doing.

Before Sorey had a chance to say anything, Mikleo had a tired look as he asked, "So where's your vessel?"

Rime looked a little lost at that. "My vessel?" She repeated.

"Rime, how many times have we told you not to leave the village without a vessel?" Mikleo suddenly snapped. He rubbed his brow like he had a headache.

The wind seraph was scratching the side of her head. "Sorry, I forgot."

"How can you forget?" Mikleo continued with his scolding. He really looked like his old self. He was reacting the same way as when Edna and Zavied would pick on him. "You're highly susceptible to malevolence."

"Well I'll just go get one," she told him. "If the land's pure there shouldn't be too much to worry about."

"That doesn't mean anything. It'll just take one bad thing and you'll get corrupted. Even with a vessel, malevolence still affects you," Mikleo kept arguing like a mother hen.

"Listen," Sorey then intervened. "Rime, if you still want to come, you could can just use me as a vessel. Mikleo's already going to use me."

"You would be better than the items we normally use," Mikleo seemed to agree.

However Rime seemed to hesitant about it. Her eyes were wide and her face was flushed. She really looked like she got punched in the gut. "S-sharing a vessel…w-with Mikleo..." Sorey heard Rime muttered. She sounded like she was so uncomfortable with the idea

"If it makes you that uncomfortable we can figure something-"

But Sorey didn't get to finish because Rime quickly grabbed his hands. Her eyes were practically sparkling as she said, "Yes. Definitely. That is the best idea ever."

It was Sorey's turn to feel a bit uncomfortable by her sudden mood change. "Okay then," Sorey started to say. "Then we just need to make a pact then."

Rime jumped back and cheered. "Sweet. I finally get to see the world, help my friends, and might even be able to save some kidos to boot. That's like a lot of birds with one stone."

"Glad to hear you've got your priorities straight," Mikleo muttered.

"So, what's your true name?" Sorey asked her so they could be on their way.

"Huh, why do need to know that?" Rime asked that disrupted her sudden cheerful mood.

"Well if you're going to use me as a vessel we're basically making a pact and I'm going to need your true name," Sorey explained.

Her face turned red again. "Do you really need to know it?" She asked.

"Come on Rime, it's either that or you find something else to be your vessel," Mikleo told her plainly. There didn't seem to be many things that would be suitable for her to use as a vessel in this village, at least not for a long-term journey. Especially not if Mikleo wasn't confident in Gramps' pipe.

"Fine, but Mikleo you have to cover your ears," Rime told him and he complied just so they could get going. Her face was still red when she looked at Sorey. "And you have to promise not to tell anyone, got it?"

Sorey knew seraphim didn't just go around telling their true names. It was like asking a very personal and intimate question to someone. But Rime seemed like she was embarrassed about her name. "Okay I promise," Sorey told her.

She glanced around before coming right next to Sorey to whisper her name in his ear. "Hyan Exem," she said just barely loud enough for Sorey to hear.

 _Copy of Wind,_ Sorey thought as he realized what her name meant. No wonder she was embarrassed by it. It wasn't a flattering name. But Sorey just smile and said, "Welcome to the team Rime."

"Glad to join," she said in her usual tone just as they start to make a pact.

/~/~/

 **Skit: Names**

 **Rime** : ( _I can't believe it. Mikleo and I are sharing a vessel! This is like a dream come true. This can only go one way. With Mikleo and I-_ )

 **Sorey** : Rime?

 **Rime** trying to act normal: Ah Sorey...need something?

 **Sorey** : Well it's about your true name...

 **Rime** : There's nothing to talk about. It is just a name.

 **Sorey** : But-

 **Rime** : No buts. I'm Rime, a free-spirited wind seraph who wants to go and do whatever she wants. Names mean jack.

 **Sorey** : Alright then.

 **Rime** : And don't you dare tell anyone my name, especially Mikleo. *Disappears*

 **Sorey** : For someone who says she doesn't care about her name, she sure does seem to care about people knowing it.

/~/~/

 _He was in a void. That was the first thing Sorey realized once he had sealed Maotelus inside him. There were no colors, no sound, and he couldn't feel anything. Of course that was how it was. All of his sense were shut off. He was in suspended animation._

 _This would be his world until Maotelus was purified. Just surrounded in nothingness._

 _Just as Sorey began to wonder if he could possibly go mad if he would be living this in real time, he heard someone crying. It started him so bad because he shouldn't be hearing anything. All of his senses were cut off._

 _But Sorey turned around to find the source. Sorey briefly began wondering if the madness had already set in because what he saw was the faint outline of a child. The child was curled up and trying to contain their cries. "I failed, it's all my fault," the small voice said as he choked back his tears._

 _Sorey walked closer to child who didn't see him because his back was to him. Even when Sorey got closer to the child, he couldn't make out any more details other than the realization that he was able to see through the child. Was he an apparition?_

 _Without any answer, Sorey still called out to him. "Are you okay?" He asked._

 _The cries stopped for a moment. Then he slowly turned around. Sorey tried to keep his face as neutral as possible because the child had no face. But a voice came from him. "W-what are you doing here?" The boy asked simply._

 _Sorey sat down across from him. He knew he wasn't dealing with an actual child. But he couldn't help but address him like one. Sorey scratched the side of his face. "It's a bit complicated. But how did you get here?"_

 _At that the child pulled his knees to his chest and Sorey could hear his nose sniffling. "I've been here ever since I failed," the boy said._

" _Since you failed? What did you do?" Sorey asked._

" _It's all my fault," the boy cried. "The land was my vessel, and I became corrupted. It's all my fault, how many people have I caused suffering to?"_

" _The land was your vessel?" Sorey repeated. Then it dawned on him. "Are you Maotelus?"_

 _There was a pause before the boy answered. "Yes."_


	2. Chapter 2: Grace

Read, review, enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 2: Grace

"Sorey, your left," Mikleo shouted.

Sorey pivoted toward that direction and was able to get his sword up in time to block a wolf's bite. But it took most of Sorey's strength to keep the wolf at bay. It was a helion. He wasn't sure what to do. It had been so long since he fought without the power of purification. He needed to try and scare it away.

"Come on Sorey, hurry up and deal with it," he heard Rime shout. "There's more over here."

Sorey glanced around and the two seraphim were in the midst of fighting more wolves. They had run into a whole pack of helions. But when he looked over at Rime, he saw her deal a devastating punch to a wolf that killed it. "What are you doing?" Sorey shouted.

That distracted him long enough for the wolf to rip Sorey's sword out of his hand and tackled him to the ground.

"Sorey," Mikleo shouted as the wolf was about to lung at Sorey's neck.

But Sorey could feel a rush of wind and heard Rime say, "Swallow Dance." She had come across the battlefield in an instant and knocked the wolf off of him with a series of kicks. When she was done with her attack, the wolf didn't move anymore.

There was another wolf coming to attack, but it didn't even get close to them before being enveloped in ice. One moment the wolf was frozen in place and the next the ice was shattering along with the wolf.

Sorey saw the last wolf suddenly back away slowly before taking off. The wind picked up again and Sorey's head shot toward Rime. She was casting a spell. Sorey couldn't get to his feet in time to stop her. "Wind Blade," she shouted as it looked like she kicked the spell toward the wolf. It was like a blade that nearly cut into the wolf's side, killing it.

Sorey quickly scanned the area and saw that the whole pack was dead. Rime and Mikleo had killed them. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Then Rime said, "Man, I'm really rusty. I was aiming for the head." She started stretching her arms around, "Man that was a good workout. It's been awhile since I last fought."

"Sorey, you're not hurt are you?" Mikleo asked when he saw that Sorey wasn't moving.

"Why did you kill them?" Sorey asked still in almost shock after what he saw. He also couldn't believe that Mikleo also killed those helions.

Rime actually looked confused by what he said. She scratched the side of her head saying, "Cause they were helions. I mean, that's the natural order of things, right?"

Sorey shot up to his feet. "But they could have been purified," he argued.

"But we don't possess the power," Mikleo reminded him. His friend was gentle with his words. He reminded Sorey of his position. Lailah wasn't with them and Sorey wasn't a shepherd. There was no way they could purify.

"We could have just chased them away," Sorey tried to argue. This had just been senseless killing.

Rime moved her hand over her hip. "Yeah, not happening." She said firmly. "Those helions could have reached the village and someone could have gotten hurt, and all because we didn't take care of them."

Mikleo put his hand on Sorey's shoulder. "I know, they were creatures who lived here. But it was far more risky just leaving them be. Plus we can't risk having shepherds or the church coming to this area and finding the village."

They were right. If the port town noted that there were helions nearby, they might call the church for help. And if they hunted in the forest, they might find the village. Sorey started to wonder if some of the seraphim went out to deal with helions so the human city wouldn't alert the church.

Sorey could see that it bothered Mikleo greatly. It went against the way they were raised and Gramps' teachings. There was no telling what must have happened to Mikleo to make him start killing hellions. It also made Sorey realize that Mikleo had really gotten stronger over the years if he was actually able to kill a hellion.

Seeing that Sorey didn't say anything else, Rime added, "I know it sucks, but we would never kill a helion that was once human."

"Yeah, and I know several sealing spells to keep them from harming someone," Mikleo added. Sorey realized his friend really had changed.

Sorey couldn't bring himself to say anything. He just made a fist in frustration. He had killed before. But that was when there were no other options and he had to. If only he still had the power of purification. Those creatures didn't deserve to die. He could have-

"Hey Sorey," Rime suddenly interrupted his thoughts. "It's fine if you don't want to kill anything. Just leave it to us if it becomes too much for you," she told him.

But Sorey shook his head. "I can't let you two do it all yourself," he told her. Then he forced a smile. "I'll get used it. Just give me a little time." _It's not like I've never killed before,_ Sorey reminded himself bitterly. _Things...are different._

Rime just shrugged while Mikleo asked, "Do you want to take a quick break?"

"I'd rather keep moving," Sorey told him. "We're close to the port, right?" He wanted to get away from this scene as quick as possible.

"We should be there in a few hours," Mikleo answered as they began walking again.

Suddenly Rime started to squeal that startled Sorey. "I can't wait," she cheered. "This will be the first time I've ever gone into a human village."

"So you've really never gone into human settlement?" Sorey asked to get his mind off the previous discussion. He couldn't believe how easily she had switched her tune.

"Never," Rime began. "Anytime I tried getting close to the port, I would suddenly start feeling light headed and sick. I'd even have a vessel with me."

"Is the malevolence that bad?" Sorey quickly asked.

"No, it's about how a regular human village would be. Any seraphim should be fine there even without a vessel. I wasn't kidding when I said she was highly susceptible to malevolence," Mikleo commented.

"Then I'd faint and Mikleo would carry me back to the village," Rime suddenly said in the same excited voice.

"Yeah, that never happened. You're probably thinking of Fara," Mikleo corrected matter of factly.

"Way to spoil my day dream," Rime pouted.

"I suppose that'd make sense. If the town had a serious problem with malevolence then the church would have come, right?" Sorey summed up. He hadn't really heard what Rime said because he had been so focused on what Mikleo had said about Rime being that affected by malevolence. He'd never really heard of that, but it wasn't that much of a stretch. "Hopefully I'll be enough to keep the malevolence from you Rime," he told her.

"Ah, you're going to jinx it," Rime suddenly exclaimed. "Sorey, you're basically my last hope of getting to travel. If I can't stay pure with you as my vessel then there goes my dreams of seeing the world. I'll be forced to stay out in the wilderness for the rest of my life," she ranted. Rime really sounded worried about that possibility. Of course Sorey sympathized with her. He couldn't imagine what it must be like to be limited in where you could go and what you could see.

"Do you think there could be a way to raise her tolerance?" Sorey asked Mikleo.

"Honestly I don't know. Rime's the only person I've meet that can't handle a normal level of malevolence," Mikleo answered.

"Maybe I'll be able to get some malevolence endurance training with Sorey as my vessel if this does work," Rime thought up.

"I suppose it's possible," Mikleo said. "You would be in malevolence that wouldn't affect you."

A big smile crossed Rime's face. "Sweet. Alright Sorey, let's head to the most malevolent place you can think of to get some training in," she declared.

"Baby steps," Mikleo scolded.

"Let's make sure you can tolerate the port town first," Sorey suggested instead.

The wind seraph started to pout again, but she said, "Fine."

/~/~/

 **Skit: Training**

 **Rime** : Hiyah.

 **Sorey** : You're really going at it.

 **Rime** : Well yeah. I make myself follow a strict training regiment everyday so I don't get sloppy.

 **Sorey** : Even while we're traveling.

 **Rime** : Especially while we're traveling. But I guess I should move my schedule around a bit to when you're sleeping or taking a break to eat. Feels a bit awkward training while we're walking.

 **Sorey** : That's certainly some dedication you have. Maybe I could join you sometime. I still have a lot to learn.

 **Mikleo** : I wouldn't. Some of the kids and other seraphim in the village had tried training under her, but gave up because she's pretty extreme when it comes to training and fighting.

 **Rime** : What can I say, I don't know how to hold back. I probably wouldn't make a very good teacher. I prefer to train until I can't even move anymore.

 **Mikleo** : That's not going to be good when we're traveling.

 **Sorey** : Is there a reason for pushing yourself like that? If you don't mind me asking of course.

 **Rime** : Hmm…*thinking* I guess the reason is because when I'm in the middle of training, I just find myself pushing myself because I have this overwhelming feeling of "I can't lose again."

 **Sorey** : So you train so you won't lose a fight again?

 **Rime** : I don't know. I'm pretty sure I'd remember if I ever lost.

 **Mikleo** : So you're that worried you'll lose in the future?

 **Rime** : I guess.

 **Mikleo** : You're nuts.

 **Sorey** : Well I'm glad she's on our side.

/~/~/

Thankfully they didn't run into any more helions and arrived at Port Temper Bay in a timely fashion with a few hours of light left. However Sorey and Mikleo had to try and keep Rime from sprinting off without them when they came in view of the town. Eventually, they weren't able to hold her back any longer before she just took off running when they a few feet away from the entrance. So the two of them quickly ran after her in case the worse should happen.

To both of their relief, Rime didn't go too far into the town and also didn't leave Sorey's domain. But she got very close.

Of course none of the people in the town noticed her as she stood in the middle of the street watching the people walk past her. It was a modest port town with a few stone buildings and dirt roads. Mikleo had been right, there wasn't anything abnormal about the town. There was small level of malevolence that was always present in a human settlement that didn't have seraphim's blessing directly. But a seraph should be fine.

"How do you feel?" Mikleo asked Rime who was still taking in the sights.

"I feel fine," she reported in disbelief.

"Well that's one less thing to worry about," Sorey said excitedly.

That big smile returned to Rime. "Sweet, now we need to find a place with tons of malevolence so I can start my training."

"Baby steps," Mikleo repeated from earlier and rubbed his head like he had a headache.

Sorey found himself smiling. He was happy that he was suitable for Rime so she could finally see the world. That was probably a big relief for her too. Although he and Mikleo might have their hands full keeping her from going wild and getting out of range of her vessel.

Then Sorey finally took a moment to take everything in. And that was when he saw it. The vast sky and dark blue body of water that had nothing in sight. It hadn't dawned to Sorey what going to a port town and catching a ship would entail. Was he looking at the ocean?

Without realizing it, his feet started running toward the docks to get a better look. He could hear Mikleo shouting after him. But he didn't stop or slow down. There were even some villagers who moved out of the way as he ran past them.

He soon reached the docks. Staying on land, he took in the sight. There were a few small boats that were probably used for fishing and one big ship that probably had a lot of cargo on it. And there was nothing else out in the water. There was no other landmass other than the surroundings that made up the bay.

"Sorey, don't just take off like that" Mikleo scolded as he caught up. "I already have to keep a watch on Rime, I don't need two of you."

Sorey didn't pay much attention. He just said, "It's the ocean."

At that, Mikleo relaxed some. "Right, this would be the first time you've seen the ocean."

"I can't believe we're this far from the inland," Sorey just said to himself in amazement. He had always hoped his journey would have taken him this far. But it never did. And now here he was. The world was vast and huge, but looking at the large body of water, it just made Sorey realize that the world was even bigger. There was so much more for him to see. There had been so much he hadn't seen before he sealed himself.

"Huh, you've never seen the ocean before?" He heard Rime start to say. "Man, if I had known that, I would have suggested we go to my favorite ocean viewing spot. It's on the top of a cliff and I'm sure it'll take your breath away."

"Would you mind showing me next time we're here?" Sorey quickly asked.

"Of course," Rime said. Then she took a closer look at Sorey and looked to be trying to figure something out. "Would you say you have good upper body strength?"

Sorey wasn't expecting that question. "I guess?" Sorey said sounding unsure. He could get by at the very least, but he had a feeling average wasn't what she was meaning.

Rime thought about his answer. She even came over and grabbed Sorey's arm to check herself. "I'd probably have to help you get up there with the wind," she concluded

 _What kind of cliff is this?_ Sorey thought anxiously.

Just then Mikleo pushed Rime's hands off Sorey's arm. "Both of you quit it, humans are starting to stare," he quickly warned.

Sorey then looked around and did see that there were a few people looking in his direction. If they couldn't see seraphs then it would probably looked weird that Sorey had his arm outstretched for no reason. And he'd been talking to himself.

"I probably should have warned you before we got here," Mikleo suddenly started to explain. "But for now, you should pretend you don't see us."

Sorey had to stop himself for reacting. He didn't want to draw attention to himself anymore. Rumors could spread about a weirdo in town talking to himself and that could bring the church here if they were still desperate for members. That would make Shaun and everyone's efforts to protect the kids in vain because of Sorey. "I- I see," Sorey muttered to make it sound like he was only commenting on the ocean to himself and not to someone others couldn't see. He wasn't very good at pretending and also didn't like that he couldn't talk freely with his friend.

"And that goes for you too Rime," Mikleo quickly added, "Don't do anything weird to Sorey while humans are around that could draw attention to him."

"Oh come on, why would I do weird things to _Sorey_?" Rime said with a pout. There was something really strange about her phrasing. Was there someone she did want to do weird things to? Sorey had to keep from looking at her while he was trying to act like he wasn't listening to two seraphs talking.

Mikleo walked in front of Sorey and motioned for him to follow while also ignoring Rime's comment. "Let's go, you need find passage on a ship. Ask if any ships are heading to Sanctus Isle. That's the church's headquarters," Mikleo told him.

Sorey nodded. But Rime suddenly started walking back toward the buildings. "Alright, while you two go get us passage, I'll just look around," she informed them.

Before she could even take another step, Mikleo grabbed the back of her collar and started dragging her with them. "What part of staying with Sorey do you not understand?" Mikleo asked. "If you get too far away from him, you'll lose your connection with him as a vessel."

Sorey had to really focus so he wouldn't react after seeing Rime go completely red in the face and looking like she lost the use of her legs. Why in the world did she look happy?

He glanced at Mikleo who looked like he was too busy dragging Rime's dead weight behind him. Sorey had so many questions. But he couldn't ask them here.

It wasn't until Sorey walked up to someone on the docks that Rime finally used her own legs. Although she was off to the side muttering things like, "He touched me…" At least that's what Sorey thought she was repeating to herself. Thankfully she was saying to herself so Sorey could easily focus talking to someone.

"Excuse me," Sorey started to say to a sailor on the dock who turned his attention to him. "We were-" Sorey started to say until Mikleo elbowed him in the side. The sailor gave him a questioning look and Sorey quickly recovered. "I was wondering if there are any ships heading to Sanctus Isle."

"You with the church or something?" The sailor asked.

Sorey paused and made a small glance to Mikleo. "Just say you're hoping to join them," Mikleo answered. "You're cloak looks like something they'd wear and no one here would be able to see the difference. But it'd be better in case he accidentally does run into someone actually from the church."

Sorey gave a very slight nod before going on. "Not yet, but I will be one day," Sorey forced out and hoped he sounded convincing.

The sailor just shook his head. He looked a bit disappointed. "Sorry kid. Even if a regular ship was allowed to sail to Sanctus Isle, no ships are going to be going far from this dock."

"Why's that?" Sorey asked.

"It's just that time of year," the sailor said. "There's some sea monsters out beyond the bay."

"Ask them if they've called the church here to exterminate them," Rime suddenly spoke up and it had even started Sorey a bit. She had just suddenly snapped out of whatever daydream she had been in when she heard that. Sorey had jumped a bit and the sailor was giving him a weird look.

"Um," Sorey started and rubbed the back of his head as he quickly thought of how to ask casually. "Will the church be taking care of them soon?"

"Hell no," the sailor said. "Look, I have no idea if they're these hellion beast or what, but they don't bother anyone as long as we don't get close to them. It's just that time of year when they come here to hunt and stuff, at the end of the month they'll move on to a new hunting ground."

"But that's got to be really inconvenient," Sorey began. "Not being able to make trades with other ports. I'm sure the church could purify something like that if they were hellions."

"Sorey, don't encourage them," Rime snapped and it made Sorey nearly jump again. Honestly he just said what came to his mind first. He was wondering if this town didn't trust the church.

"Well yeah it sucks being stuck here for about a month. But we make a killing catching fish without even having to leave the dock," the sailor explained.

"Really?"

"Yeah, all the sea creatures coming into the bay to try and escape from the monsters right into our nets," the sailor explained with a big smile. "It almost like those sea monsters are bringing the fish to us."

"I've never heard of anything like that," Mikleo muttered.

"So you don't bother it and it doesn't bother you, is that right?" Sorey asked.

"And everyone eats their fill. So as far as I'm concerned the church can go screw itself if it ever tries to get rid of the sea monsters."

"I see, thank you for your time," Sorey told the man and gave a small bow before leaving the dock.

Sorey walked until he was back in the town stood behind a building out of sight of people before talking. "What now?" he asked the two seraphim in a low voice so no one would overhear him. He didn't want to wait for however long until the monsters left.

"We'll just have to walk to the next port town," Rime said plainly.

"How far?" Sorey then asked.

"About three days," Mikleo answered.

"I see, this would have been the fastest way," Sorey muttered.

"It's your call Sorey," Mikleo said. "We can either go can back to the village and wait or we can walk to the other port town. I'm good with either."

"Same," Rime chimed in.

"If you don't mind, I'd rather we just keep moving," Sorey gave his answer. He was positive he'd go crazy if he had to wait. As long as he could at least move toward his goal, he could handle his anxiety. "Plus we'll get to see more," Sorey then added as he came to that realization. He would be able to see more of the way the world is now.

"Sounds good to me," Rime said with a smile. "You and I are in the same boat. I need to try and see everything while you're my vessel."

"It's not like we're in a great big hurry," Mikleo added. "It's like you said, this will be completely new territory for you to explore."

"Alright then, lead the way Mikleo," Sorey said now that they had a new objective.

/~/~/

They didn't have much gald, so Sorey didn't bother getting any supplies. He was sure they could make it to the next town with foraging what they needed. They were out of sight of the port town when Rime told Sorey that he didn't need to worry about her eating since she wasn't a fan of eating food.

While it was true that seraphim didn't have to eat, Sorey was still surprised to hear that. Most of the seraphs he knew enjoyed eating. "But don't worry, I'll still cook," Rime went on to say. "I want to pull my weight around here."

"I couldn't ask you cook if you're not going to enjoy it too," Sorey told her. He wouldn't feel right with eating what she made when she wouldn't eat it.

"It's not that big a deal, I cook for the kids back in the village all the time. Of course I mainly cooked because there wasn't much I could do for the village. The only thing I was good at was fighting hellions that came too close, but that didn't happen very often."

"If you're that adamant about it," Sorey started to say.

"I'm honestly surprised someone like you would stay in the kitchen long enough to get anything done with all that energy you have," Mikleo commented.

Rime started to pout at that. "Come on, I am so wife material," she bluntly said to them that shocked both of them. That didn't seem like something Rime would say.

"Um, I'm not really seeing the correlation," Sorey admitted.

"Well I don't really get it either," Rime admitted a little sheepishly. "Some of the kids have told me that. So I guess that's a human way of saying you're good at cooking."

Mikleo seemed to be thinking. "From what I've seen from humans, typically wives in nuclear families are the ones that make meals for everyone."

"That seems like a weird trait to focus on," Sorey commented. "There are plenty of guys who are good cooks and plenty of girls who can't." Sorey internally shuddered as he thought about Rose's many failed cooking attempts.

"Maybe humans try to pair good cooks with bad cooks," Mikleo summed up.

"That's at least better than having two bad cooks," Sorey joked.

"Stop analyzing it," Rime spat before hanging her head in defeat. "You're just making it worse."

Sorey blinked at Rime before pulling Mikleo aside. "You don't think she has a crush on someone, do you?" He asked.

"If so, it'd have to be someone from the village since she's never been out of the village before now," Mikleo added.

"I can still hear you two," Rime said with a pout.

"Sorry," Sorey said and he and Mikleo quickly turned around. But Sorey then saw that Rime was on all four looking like she was going puke. He quickly went to her side. "Rime, you're not sick are you?"

"I'm only feeling the crushing weight of defeat," she said plainly.

Now Sorey was even more confused. "When did you ever lose?" He asked.

Rime's head seemed to drop even more, which Sorey didn't even think that was possible.

Before Sorey could think of some way to cheer her up or help in some way, Mikleo suddenly warned, "Sorey I think you need to act like you can't see us. I have a feeling we're being watched."

"Again?" Sorey asked. He quickly glanced around, but didn't see anyone.

It was then that Rime shot to her feet and it caused Sorey to fall backwards because he had been startled. "There's definitely bloodlust in the air," Rime informed. "Want me to scope it out?"

Sorey quickly got to his feet. "Don't, it might be a hellion," he told her. He also didn't want to risk Rime getting too far away too.

"We should keep moving," Mikleo suggested. "If they're after Sorey, they'll show themselves soon enough."

"And if it's a regular person, we can surprise them if they don't know Sorey's with seraphim," Rime summed up.

"Exactly," Mikleo said.

Sorey went along and just gave a small nod to show them he understood. He wanted to run to lose his pursuer, but he needed to act normal. So he walked.

"But this is most likely a hellion," Rime said. "There's no way that someone with this much bloodlust isn't corrupted by malevolence."

"We just need to stay on our guard," Mikleo warned.

Sorey wanted to ask them questions about what it was they were sensing. But he kept up the charade in case this was a normal person. But he started to feel the hair of the back of his neck stand. Someone was watching him.

And the person didn't wait long. Sorey could feel the attack coming and with Mikleo's warning he was able to dodge the attack. Sorey jumped to the side and saw that it was a long-range attack. It was small, but it left a small black ring where Sorey had been standing. He didn't want to imagine what it would have done if it had hit him.

"Nice dodge," a female voice complemented in a condescending way.

Sorey's eyes quickly found the owner of the voice. It was a girl, around his age, standing next to a tree just a few feet away. She had wild red hair that went to her elbows and most of it had been pushed over to her left side. She even had a black headband that acted as an eyepatch for her left eye, even though her bangs and hair would have done the job. The woman was wearing a long brown coat that looked too big for her. The opened coat showed she wore dark pants, a white collared shirt that wasn't buttoned all the way with a purple bodice, and a belt slung over her shoulder that held a sheathed blade. In her hand was a weapon that had looked a little bigger than Siegfried and also had a short thin blade attached to the end. And it was pointed at Sorey.

"Is she a hellion?" Rime asked.

"Who are you?" Sorey went ahead and asked. The girl's appearance seemed normal enough. She wasn't giving off any malevolence. But he really wanted to see if she was blind to Mikleo and Rime.

"I only tell men my name when they prove themselves," the woman said as her free hand reached for her sword. "So be sure you provide an interesting fight."

She then made a dash for Sorey who reacted with enough time to pull his sword out and block her sword and gun as she swung both of them down on Sorey. The woman's coat hid her physical prowess because Sorey had to use both hands to hold her back. "I don't want to fight," Sorey told her.

"Too bad, I do," she answered as she tilted her gun a little to shoot Sorey at point blank range.

Sorey quickly dropped down and used the blunt end of his sword on the back of her knees. She lost her balance and fell, but she rolled and jumped back to her feel. Her smile widened. "Alright, so you're no stranger to a fight, let's see what else you have up your sleeve," she said.

"I told you I don't want to fight," Sorey shouted.

"It doesn't look like she can perceive us," Sorey heard Mikleo say. It dawned on Sorey that the woman kept her focus on him, not the other. She didn't even acknowledge them. Would she have picked a fight with him if she had known it was going to be three on one? Was she that crazy?

"Well if you're that much of a wuss, then I'll just kill you here," the girl said with the same smile before pulling the trigger. Sorey moved out of the way again and this time he charged her. He swung his sword in hopes of smashing the gun or at least knocking it out of her hands. If he disarmed her, then he could end this. But the gun was sturdy enough to block. Sorey quickly had to jump back because she aimed to cut at his neck with her sword.

"Sorey, just hold her off just a little longer," Sorey heard Mikleo shout. It was a good thing his opponent kept attacking him because he didn't have time to glance back to look at Mikleo. But he happened to see Rime out of the corner of his eye. She was circling them and Sorey instantly understood. The seraphim didn't want to risk showing their powers so this woman can go tell others. So Rime was going to attack her from behind and hopefully knock her out. They were going to make it look like he beat her.

So Sorey kept blocking and dodging the woman's attacks as he waited for Rime to knock her out. He wouldn't have to wait long. The wind seraph was fast.

Rime was within arm's length. But a new smile spread across the girl's face as she pointed the gun behind her and pulled the trigger. It struck Rime in the gut and the force sent her back and she rolled on the ground. She wasn't moving.

"Rime," Sorey shouted.

Mikleo reached Sorey's side with his staff ready for a spell. "She can see us?" He asked in disbelief.

"No shit," the girl said. But her smile didn't go away. "Obviously I was playing dumb just like you were. Gotta say, I'm impressed. You don't seem like the type who'd rely on tricks like back attacks or deception. I like it. Though you need a lot more practice to pull it off."

So she knew there were two seraphim and she still picked a fight? "What did you do to Rime?" Sorey demanded.

The girl held up her gun which made Sorey and Mikleo tense up more. "Oh relax, this gun shoots fire type seraphic mana. One shot wouldn't kill a seraph."

"But it'll take your breath away if it's an element superior to yours," Rime wheezed. She was sitting up, but holding her stomach and looking like she was going to be sick.

Relief that Rime was okay lasted for only a moment before Sorey turned his attention back to the girl that attacked them. "So why did you suddenly attack us?" Sorey asked.

The girl sheathed her sword and tucked the gun away inside her jacket. So Sorey did the same in good faith. "I happened to overhear your dilemma about crossing the ocean," she began. "So I figured that we might be able to help each other out."

"If that's what you wanted, then why did you attack us?" Mikleo quickly asked.

The girl generally looked confused. "What are you talking about? Obviously I did it so I could get to know what type of people you were."

"You could have just asked us," Mikleo scolded, which had zero effect on the girl.

"But where would the fun be?" She merely asked.

Mikleo was fuming now, so Sorey went on to ask, "So how can you help us?"

The girl folded her arms. "Gotta admire a guy who just gets to the point. Anyway, I just so happen to be the captain of a ship that's not moored at the Temper Bay. So I can get you to your destination. Well, close. Normal ships like mine couldn't get close to Sanctus Isle. You need special permits issued by the church, and they don't hand those out to just anyone."

"So what do you want from us?" Mikleo asked.

"Easy, I want the seraphim," she said plainly and with a smile on her face.

"Excuse me?" Mikleo blurted out.

"They're not just things to be given," Sorey defended. "They're living beings."

The girl just rolled her eyes. "Relax. All I'm saying is that I have a job that requires the power of the seraphim. When the job is done, I'll get you to a port that can take you to Sanctus Isle and the seraphim will go with you."

"What's the job?" Mikleo asked as he tried to calm down and think about this rationally.

"That's details you'll get if you agree," the girl told them.

"Sounds like it would be something we would say no to if we heard it," Mikleo commented.

"Do you side with the church?" Sorey asked. This would help him get a better idea about her.

"Hell no," was her answer. "I'm against everything the church stands for."

"Then why would you help Sorey get to Sanctus Isle?" Rime suddenly asked. She still sounded like she was catching her breath. But she was back to her feet. "I mean, Sorey looks like a shepherd, doesn't he?"

The girl rolled her eyes and shrugged. "I heard the whole conversation. I know you don't work for the church and I know you were lying when you said you were hoping to join them. As to why you're wearing a cloak that looks like it was worn like a thousand years ago is beyond me and I could care less about why you want to get there. I just saw a business opportunity."

"Looks like she's not fooled easily," Mikleo muttered.

"So basically you just need our help with something and then you'll take us to where we need, right?" Sorey summed up.

"That's what I said," she agreed.

"And no one will get hurt, will they? This won't abuse the seraphim's power?" Sorey then asked to clarify.

"Trust me, no one will be hurt because of them," she began. "There's an item I need, but it's being guarded by a seraphic barrier. All the seraphim need to do is just disarm the barrier. My crew and I will do the rest."

Sorey carefully considered her proposal. It honestly didn't sound like a bad deal. They just barely had enough gald to pay for passage on a ship. The reason she wasn't telling what she was hoping to get was probably in case they said no and just went off to get the item themselves. It made sense to Sorey. So Sorey nodded and held up his hand. "It's a deal."

"Sorey, are you sure?" Mikleo asked.

But the girl accepted Sorey's hand and they shook on it. "Great, I'm Captain Grace by the way. But you can just call me Grace."

"I'm Sorey," he introduced and pointed to his other friends. "This is Mikleo and Rime."

"Great, now that it's settled, I'll lead you to my ship. It's not far," Grace said and turned around to led them.

"I don't think this is such a good idea Sorey," Mikleo muttered.

"She doesn't seem like a bad person, despite her attacking us," Sorey reasoned. While that's not how Sorey would have handled things, he could see her logic behind it. Sergei did something similar with their fight. Honestly, maybe the reason Sorey wanted to go with Grace was because she reminded him of Rose. The way Grace conducted business made Sorey think of Rose. Maybe this was all for nostalgia.

Rime folded her arms behind her head. "Meh, what's the worst that could happen. Besides, if Grace does try anything, we have the upper hand out in sea. The wind and water are at our command."

"That's a good point," Sorey agreed.

But Mikleo didn't look convinced. His hand was over his mouth which told Sorey that his friend was deep in thought like he was figuring out some clue to ruins. Before Sorey could ask him, he heard Grace shout, "I'm leaving your asses on land if you don't hurry?"

"Better not keep the lady waiting," Rime commented.

"Right," Sorey said before running to catch up with the sea captain.

But Mikleo didn't move. He was still deep in thought. "But if her resonance is this high, then I should have been able to sense it…" Mikleo started to mutter. Then he paused briefly. But he seemed to have given up the thought so he could catch up with the others.

/~/~/

 _"How come you seem so surprised," Maotelus asked once Sorey got over the shock. The child was still sniffling, but he had calmed down considerably._

 _"Sorry, I guess you can say I wasn't expecting you to appear like this," Sorey admitted. "I mean, you looked like a dragon when I saw you."_

 _"That's just my empyrean form," Maotelus answered simply._

 _"Empyrean?" Sorey repeated. He was sure he'd come across that word a few times in his studies, but of course it was escaping him now._

 _"So can I ask you how you got here?" Maotelus asked as he interrupted his thought process._

 _"I suppose I should let you know," Sorey muttered. "I'm trying to purify you by being your vessel that's sealed away from malevolence."_

 _The boy jumped to his feet. "That's too risky," he quickly claimed. "You're only human. Your body might not be able to handle all of my power, not to mention all of my malevolence. And what if some outside force corrupts you. You might not even be able to wake up or worse become a lord of calamity."_

 _Sorey couldn't really help but start laughing. "Well it's kind of too late for that. I am, after all, already sealed away with you."_

 _"I suppose we must hope for the best then," Maotelus said with a sigh at the end._

 _Sorey stood up and held out his hand. "How about we start over? I'm Sorey and I'll be your vessel until the land's purified."_

 _The child hesitated at first, but eventually reached his hand out to Sorey. If Sorey hadn't watched, he wouldn't have known if Maotelus ever took his hand. Sorey couldn't feel his hand that was just a faint outline and completely see through. "It's nice to meet you Sorey, I'm Maotelus."_


	3. Chapter 3: The Wandering Fire Seraph

Read, review, enjoy.

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Chapter 3: The Wandering Fire Seraph

Grace didn't lead them far. They walked a short distance through the thick forest until they came to a beach. There was a small rowboat sitting on the beach and out in the sea was a large ship with red sails. The first time Sorey saw a ship was at Port Temper Bay, but this ship that was Grace's was bigger than the cargo ship docked there. Sorey had no idea that ships could be that big.

Sorey just stood in wonder as he looked at the ship. "You're really the captain of that ship?" He asked in disbelief.

Grace had never stopped walking and was pushing the rowboat into the water. "Why else would I bring you here if that wasn't my ship?" Sorey just couldn't believe it. He and Grace had to be around the same age, and she was in charge of a ship like this.

"Gotta admit, I was honestly expecting something like a used fishing boat," Mikleo commented.

"Good thing it's not," Rime said.

"If you want a better view of the ship, you better come on," Grace told them. There was a small rowboat that was in the water and she was ready set sail.

Sorey then hurried on the rowboat. However, he hadn't expected it to sway so much under his feet that he nearly fell out of it if Grace hadn't been holding the boat or Mikleo grabbing his arm. When Sorey carefully sat down, he could hear Grace sigh and face palmed. "You've never left the land, have you?" She asked.

Sorey scratched his cheek as he gave Grace a semi-embarrassed smile. "This will be my first time on a boat," he admitted. "Is that a problem?"

"Well, not for _me,_ " she answered. "Can't say the same for you, or my deck hands for that matter."

Grace then pushed them off. She did the rowing and it surprised Sorey that she didn't just ask Mikleo to push them through the water. But she wasted no time rowing and got them to the ship in a few minutes.

They ran into some waves and Grace knew just how to get over them. Each time they did though, Sorey felt his stomach jerk upwards. Sorey hunched over a little bit each time and Grace had a knowing smirk on her face each time he did it.

When they got next to the ship, Sorey could hear people shouting things like, "The Captain's back," and could hear people running above on the deck. On the side of the ship was the name the of the ship, _The Van Eltia_ carved in big letters _._

Ropes were then thrown over the side of the ship and Grace went to fast work on tying them to the boat. Sorey thought he'd try to tie the rope on his end, but Grace smack his hands away and practically climbed over him to tie that end in less than a minute.

Grace then yelled for them to pull them up and Sorey stayed absolutely still as they were suspended in the air. But soon they were on the deck with a bunch of guys there to greet Grace.

"Who's the boy?" One asked as most of them were eyeing Sorey. Sorey missed that they were eyeing him like they were seeing if he was a threat because he was focused on finding his balance as the ship swayed. It also proved difficult because his stomach was moving just as much.

"His name's Sorey and he has two seraphim tethered to him," Grace answered.

"Does that mean he can see 'em like you Captain?" Another crew member asked and Grace nodded.

"It doesn't look like they can perceive us," Mikleo commented. He was right, everyone on the ship was either looking at Grace or Sorey.

But then one of them said, "Not all of us." It was a broad guy who had a scar across his face. He had brown hair with some grey in it that he had tied back. He also wore a long jacket but with a sleeve torn off. "I can't see you, but I can hear."

"That's still remarkable that your resonance is that high," Sorey said as he did his best to ignore how much his stomach was moving around.

But the man ignored him and just addressed Grace, "Captain, you didn't kidnap someone from the church, did you?"

"Oh please, what kind of person do you take me for?" Grace said. Then she began to proceed to tell him about Sorey's situation.

Sorey didn't listen to that, because Rime suddenly said, "There's another seraph up there." Rime was standing on the railing looking up at the mast. It sort of made Sorey a bit nervous that she might fall in the water if they swayed anymore. Did Rime even know how to swim?

Sorey followed her line of sight and sure enough he saw an elderly woman sitting on the boom of the sail. She had wavy crimson hair that also had a lot of grey strains that was tied back in a bun and her bangs were on either side of her face and reached down to her chin. She wore a maroon dress that had ruffles at the end of the sleeves. Sorey could tell that the seraphim had tucked part of her dress in her belt and that underneath she wore black tights.

That caught the man who could hear seraphim's attention. He stopped to say, "You must be seeing the First Mate, so she wasn't hiding."

"First Mate?" Sorey repeated.

"Yeah, she's my second in command," Grace answered. "Come on down Aura and introduce yourself."

She had just been looking blankly out at the sea and the seraphim's expression didn't change when she looked down at them. But she slid off the sail and landed in a ladylike manner. Now that Sorey could see her better, he could see that she had wrinkles around her eyes. Seraphim's appearance didn't reveal anything about their ages, but Sorey could tell by looking that this seraph must have been around for a long time the way she looked weary. He could tell that she must have seen a lot, similar to Gramps.

"A water and wind seraph," the First Mate said. "They at least look capable."

"So those are the elements we have now," the man commented.

"Anyway," Grace said, "This is Aura, a fire seraph and my First Mate." The seraphim didn't nod or anything toward them. Then Grace pointed to the guy with the scar, "This is our navigator, Tokunaga. If Aura and I are busy, he's who you go to if you have any questions."

"I myself have many things to do, so don't bother me with pointless questions," Tokunaga told Sorey and the others plainly.

Sorey nodded and just said, "Yes sir."

Tokunaga didn't even acknowledge that. He again looked to Grace and asked, "So are we going through with our plan?"

Grace smiled. "Hell yeah. And spread the word that we're keeping this low key," she told him.

"Aye, aye Captain," Tokunaga said.

Aura folded her arms. "Then you best get to work. It's not like I can tell them the order," she told him.

"Some First Mate you are," Tokunaga said simply. "You're unable to fulfil most of your duties just because they can't see or hear you."

"I suppose I could light fire under them to make them move," the seraphim rebuked.

"Tokunaga, raise anchor, I'm going to inform our newest members of my rules and regulation," Grace ordered.

To that, Tokunaga nodded and started shouting orders that Sorey didn't really understand. But everyone else on the ship started rushing around. Sorey probably would have watched them as they got the ship sailing, but Grace practically started pushing him into the cabin. "Come on you, I've got to let you know about the plan," she said.

Mikleo and Rime quickly followed after him in the cabin and the fire seraphim also joined them. The cabin was obviously the captain's quarters with a desk in the middle of the room with cabinets and bookcases lining the walls and a bed in the corner. But it was also a bit messy since there was scattered papers and other objects on the floor. There were even a lot of pillows on ground. Sorey concluded that Grace wasn't all that concerned with cleanliness.

Grace sat on top of the desk and Aura just leaned against one of the book cases.

"So is this where we learn about what you want us to do?" Mikleo asked.

"Yeah, but it's pretty straightforward," Grace told them. "Now to make sure you don't try to scam me by going on ahead with your water seraph, I'll leave the destination a surprise. But we're going after a big score that's being guarded by a two-elemental barrier."

"Elemental barrier?" Rime repeated in confusion.

"It's a type of barrier created by seraphim with their elemental power," Mikleo lectured. "The more elements that are combined, the harder it is to break."

"Yeah, from what I've read you need to counter it with the superior element," Sorey finished.

Grace had a grin and went on to say, "To my luck I found the two elements I need to dispel that barrier. Water and wind."

"So the barrier is made up of earth and fire," Sorey summed up.

Rime raised her hand and asked, "Hypothetically, what if there's a seraph here that doesn't know how to dispel a barrier?"

It was Aura that answered. "I can teach you. It's more simple than it sounds."

Rime was blushing when she replied, "I wasn't saying I didn't know how, but I guess I should brush up on it."

"So what are we going after?" Mikleo then asked.

"A divine artifact," Grace answered.

"Seriously," Sorey blurted out. He looked between Grace and Aura. "Are you wanting to use the armatus or something?" It now made sense why there was a barrier to deal with.

"The armatus isn't what we're seeking," Aura answered and there seemed to be a bit of an edge in her voice.

"Honestly I'm not sure what element alignment it is," Grace told Sorey with a shrug. "It'd be perfect if it was fire. But if not I'd have a few buyers that'd give a shit ton of gald for one. So it's win win either way."

She really did have a merchant mindset like Rose. But Sorey did feel a bit concerned that she might sell a divine artifact. Only a seraph could use its power though. Overall, nothing terrible would happen if a human got their hands on it. "I guess it's alright then," Sorey muttered.

"But," Grace then started to add, "if the artifact aligned with either of the seraphim with you, I would consider selling it to you."

"Well I appreciate the thought," Sorey said even though he really didn't see the need to attain one since he didn't have the power of the shepherd anymore. "But we don't hardly have any gald."

"You don't have to pay with money," Grace answered. "I'd accept labor as payment. I have a few more jobs that require seraphic powers." She was definitely a businesswoman. She never quit.

"We'll think about it," Sorey answered so they could drop it. He needed to focus on getting to the church's headquarters once they got done with this job.

"Whatever, don't wait too long though," Grace told him. "Anyway, all you have to do is dispel the barrier. But you're welcome to whatever, other than the divine artifact. There will be plenty of treasures for you to take."

"Well it sounds simple enough," Mikleo muttered.

"Great," Grace said and jumped down from her desk. "We'll get there tomorrow morning, so rest up. I'm going to make sure my men are doing their jobs right. Ask Aura if you have any more questions."

With that, Grace left the cabin and it was just Sorey with the three seraphim. There was a bit of an awkward silence between Sorey and the others with Aura who didn't look like she wanted to socialize.

It was Rime who broke the silence, "So what's a fire seraph doing out in the middle of the sea? You seem to be out your element."

"Elements have nothing to do with it," she answered bluntly. "I have always enjoyed the sea." Before they could reply or say anything else, Aura then quickly said, "Grace sometimes doesn't think things through, especially when opportunities arise. So I just want to make sure you're really not from the church."

Grace did have really high resonances. So the church probably would want someone like her in their ranks. But Sorey didn't really see why the seraphim was so concerned. The sea captain seemed like she could take anyone on. "If you're talking about the way I'm dressed, it's kind of a long story," Sorey said.

"I'm only going to warn you once, try anything to hurt Grace and you'll have me to deal with. If you start to act suspicious, I won't hesitate to kill you," Aura threatened.

"There's no need to threatened us," Mikleo defended. "We agreed to help, didn't we?"

But Sorey didn't take offence. "Grace is important to you, isn't she?"

Aura wrapped her arms around herself and just said, "I've known Grace since she was a little girl."

Sorey understood. "I'm not with the church. The reason I'm wanting to go to the church's headquarters is just because I have some friends I need to talk with," he told her honestly.

There was a brief moment as Aura took in his words. Then she sighed. "You're either that innocent or the most cunning liar in the world."

"Trust me, Sorey couldn't even tell a white lie if he wanted to," Mikleo joked lightly.

Sorey scratched the side of his head as he sighed. "Guess I can't argue with that." Suddenly the ship started sway and Sorey's stomach lurched again. He almost fell over just because he hunched over. Thankfully Mikleo grabbed him to steady him.

At that, Aura moved toward them and said, "We'd best make sure both of you know how to dispel the barrier. I can create one that the water one can dispel. The wind one will just have to watch and learn."

"We do have names," Rime muttered.

Aura didn't act like she heard her. Instead the fire seraph looked at Sorey and said, "I suggest you head outside and stand next to the side."

Sorey blinked at her. It was a weird order. Maybe she just wanted him out of the way so she could train Mikleo and Rime. "Okay," Sorey said. It wasn't like he had anything he could do on the ship.

So when they were back on deck, Sorey went to stand on the side while the seraphim went to the front of the ship. Everyone else on the ship seemed busy doing some task. And here he was just standing around. He maybe should have asked Grace if there was anything he could be doing. He hated being the only one not working. Then again, his stomach wasn't cooperating well. It felt like it was knotting itself. Maybe he should sit down.

But then he suddenly had to lean over the side when he felt something coming up. Sorey let out an awful moaning noise as he began throwing up into the sea. Once his stomach was empty, he stayed over the side looking down at the waves. He felt even worse now and was sure he was going to get sick again. He could hear some of the other sailors chuckling behind them.

Now he understood why Aura asked him to stay on the side.

/~/~/

Sorey spent the rest of the daylight hours with his head between his legs so we wouldn't get nauseous again. He thought after the first time he threw up he'd be done. But that wasn't the case. He threw up two more times. The more the boat rocked the worse he felt. A couple of the sailors brought him some water each time he got sick. But they always had some remark about not having his sea legs or something. He didn't really pay attention to them.

Suddenly he heard someone sit down next to him. He looked up and expected to see Mikleo. Instead he saw Grace and she was handing him some crackers. Sorey put his hand up and shook his head. But Grace was insistent. "You need to eat something, otherwise you'll be useless to me tomorrow," she told him and pretty much made him take it. So he started to nibble on them just so Grace wouldn't get the idea of force feeding him.

"Care if we talk for a minute?" Sorey then asked.

"What, don't tell me I've captivated you," Grace joked.

But Sorey didn't fully understand what she was talking about. "Talking might get my mind off being sea sick," Sorey told her.

He heard the sea captain sigh. "Fine, what do you want to talk about?"

"How about how old are you?" Sorey asked.

"Going right for the personal questions, huh? Aura would probably say that's a rude question to ask a woman," Grace said.

Sorey hadn't really considered that. He was sure Lailah or Edna had told him something similar. But before he could take it back or apologize, Grace went on to say, "Not that I really care. I'm nineteen. What about you?"

 _I guess I'm technically over six hundred,_ Sorey thought embarrassingly. Of course he couldn't really tell Grace that. She would probably think he was joking if he did. "I guess I'm seventeen now," he told her. "But you're a captain that young. You have a ship and crew under your command. That's amazing."

The sea breeze picked up and Grace place her hand on her neck to keep her hair from flying all over the place. Sorey started to wonder if she had some kind of scar on the right side of her face she kept hidden with the eye patch and her hair. But Sorey kept that question to himself. That would be a rude question for someone he just met.

"Well it took a lot of work," Grace started to say. "I had to fight my way to the top and beat out every single man vying for the position. Not to mention earning each of their respect. I guess it hurt their pride when they lost to a little girl."

"It seemed that everyone here respects you though," Sorey told her.

Grace laughed a bit. "They better, or else I'd throw their damn asses in the ocean with the sharks.

The ship hit a wave and nausea hit Sorey pretty hard. Grace didn't even seem to notice it. "So what made you decide to become a sea captain?" Sorey then asked to get his mind off of it.

"Now we're really getting into personal questions," she stated, but went on. "But if you must know, I grew up in a port town. Supposedly my old man sailed around the world. I never met the man. But I grew up fishing with my mother and the whole time we were out at sea, I just kept thinking how great it would be if we could just take our little boat out further and see what else was out there. I guess I was born to be out at the sea."

There was something about Grace that Sorey couldn't help but admire. She truly was in her element out at sea. She was doing what she loved. That was how he felt when he explored ruins.

"So now it's my turn to ask you a personal question," Grace then announced. "You may have high resonance, but how in the world did you end up with two seraphim tethered to you?"

Sorey couldn't really blame her for that question, he was quite interested to know how her and Aura were connected. The truth wouldn't hurt here. "Well, I was raised by the seraphim," he told her. "Mikleo and I grew up together and we left our village a long time ago to travel the world. Then I guess you could say we ran into Rime."

"I see," was all Grace said. She looked deep in thought over something.

So Sorey went on to ask, "So how about you and Aura?"

That caught Grace off guard briefly, but she quickly recomposed herself. "Aura used to come to the port town every now and then. I was the only one there that could see her."

"She did tell us she enjoyed the sea," Sorey commented. The fire seraph must have had the same desire as Grace. That must have been how they became friends.

But Grace burst out laughing at that. "Right, the sea was what she was interested in," she said and continued to laugh to herself.

"Um, come again?" Sorey asked as he looked at her in confusion. Sorey thought about what he said again. Did he say something funny? Or has humor changed that much since his time.

But Grace, who was still snickering, stood up. "Never mind. Why don't you head below and get some rest? We're going to have an early morning."

Sorey wasn't sure if he would be able to get any sleep the way he kept feeling nauseous. Hopefully he could sleep it off.

However it proved a bit difficult for Sorey to navigate himself below deck. One of the sailors had to assist him and lead him to an empty cot. But he didn't lay down just yet and just sat down with his head between his legs again. Being below made him feel worse. Sorey wasn't sure how much time passed before Mikleo and Rime came below to join him.

"Man, I had no idea humans could turn that shade of green," Rime commented when she saw him.

"Knock it off Rime," Mikleo scolded. Then the water seraph knelt next to Sorey and asked, "Do you need anything?"

"Just to be there already," Sorey moaned. He then quickly grabbed the bucket the sailor who helped Sorey left for him. He didn't throw up but, he held it close in his lap just in case.

"Sounds like we still have awhile," Rime told him. Then she punched her fist together and said in her cheerful tone, "If you want, I could knock you out so you'll sleep the rest of the way."

As Sorey began to consider this, Mikleo quickly shot down the idea. "Don't even think about it Rime." The seraph turned to look at Sorey and said, "Just think about the ruins we're heading to. There's no telling what we'll discover."

Sorey tried to imagine it and get into his normal mood. But he just couldn't overcome the constant churning in his stomach. He'd always thought going on a boat and traveling around the world would have been so much fun. He never thought it'd be like this. Sorey let out a sickening moan before he asked to get his mind off it, "So how did training go?"

"The fire seraph's a strict teacher," Rime muttered.

"Strict on you maybe," Mikleo commented. "I didn't need as much instruction. So I ended up investigating this ship."

"Did you find anything interesting?" Sorey asked. At this point, he could really care less about if Mikleo was still paranoid about their arrangement. But Sorey just wanted anything to distract him.

"I find it a bit embarrassing to admit that I hadn't realized that this whole ship is Aura's domain," Mikleo told him.

"So this is Aura's vessel, huh," Sorey mumbled. He'd been so distracted by the thought of being on a ship for the first time and the sickness that he hadn't noticed the blessing that was present.

"That means if the worse comes, we're going to be at a disadvantage," Mikleo went on.

"Why would her vessel matter to us?" Rime then asked.

"Because it's her domain, she can influence it," Sorey answered. Plus, the whole crew, probably in their own way, "prayed" to Aura, thus giving her more power within her domain. It was no wonder her domain was the stronger one here. "But I don't think there's any reason to really worry about that. As long as we don't make everyone here our enemies." Mikleo has certainly always been the cautious one of the two. But Sorey never imagined he'd be like this.

"I certainly hope it doesn't come to that," Mikleo commented to himself.

Rime put her arms behind her head. "You're such a worry wart Mikleo," she said. "If the worse comes, you can just capsize the ship with a giant wave. There wouldn't be much a fire seraph could do against that."

"Do you even know how to swim?" Mikleo asked Rime, but he looked like he already knew the answer.

Rime seemed to think about it. "I don't know," she answered. "But I guess this is as good a time as any to find out."

Mikleo sighed and started rubbing his head. "Please don't," he muttered. Then he quickly added, "Look, Sorey wouldn't know how to swim, so that plan needs to be when our backs are against the wall."

"Wait, you're really thinking about doing something like that?" Sorey quickly asked.

"Like I said, only if we're out of options. But I do hope it doesn't come to that," Mikleo told Sorey.

"I hope not either," Sorey agreed.

Before Sorey could say anymore, Rime suddenly chimed, "So I'm just curious, Sorey do you care if humans see you talking to us?"

"I guess it wouldn't be a problem on this ship since everyone already knows," Sorey told her. "Why?"

She pointed behind him and said, "Cause you've already got one looking at you weird."

Sorey turned around and saw that it was the sailor that had helped him get below and now he had a cup in his hand. He was about Sorey's age and had a smaller build than him. When Sorey turned to look at him, the young sailor tried to make it look like he wasn't staring.

"Sorry, I'm only used to the captain and Tokunaga talking to the first mate," the sailor quickly said.

Sorey scratched the back of his head and let out a small laugh. "It's fine, I'm used to it."

"Sorey's always been considered a weirdo among humans and seraphim," Mikleo joked like the sailor could hear him.

"Shut it," Sorey muttered to Mikleo.

"I'm sorry?" The sailor asked looking very confused.

"Not you," Sorey quickly clarified.

"Anyway…" the sailor started to say as he looked a bit uncomfortable. He then started to walk closer to Sorey and handed him the cup. "Here, this might help so you don't upchuck again."

"Thanks," Sorey said as he accepted it. He could smell it was some kind of tea and his stomach churned just thinking about drinking it.

"Tokunaga gave it to me to give to you," the sailor said. "Of course he said the first mate was the one to think of it and make it. Tokunaga may be our navigator, but most of us believe he's really just a glorified speaker for the first mate."

 _Aura made this for me?_ Sorey wondered. She probably just did it so he wouldn't puke on her vessel anymore.

"So were you talking with the seraphim right now?" the sailor asked but he quickly shook his head. "Wait, that was silly, you would have had to unless you really are crazy."

"Man, he really can't perceive us," Rime said as she stood right in front of the sailor and was even waving her hands in his face like she was trying to get him to notice her.

"I was talking with the two that came on board with me," Sorey told the sailor. "Mikleo's sitting next to me and the other one is Rime and she's...across from you," Sorey told him. He hadn't wanted to say that Rime was still standing almost right in his face.

None the wiser, the sailor nodded and said, "Nice to meet you, sort of. I'm Ben by the way." Before Sorey could say something, Ben quickly went on to ask, "So the first mate isn't down here, is she?"

That caught Sorey off guard a little bit just because he wasn't expecting a question about Aura. "Last time I saw her was above deck," Sorey answered honestly.

"I was just wondering," Ben told him. "Tokunaga told us to always be aware that the first might be watching us."

"It probably would be bad if they were bad mouthing her while she was in the room and none of them would know," Mikleo commented.

"I guess all of you have to stay on your best behavior in case Aura comes around, huh?" Sorey lightly joked.

Ben folded his arms like he was trying to think of something. "I don't think it's that. None of us really say anything bad about her mainly because we don't really know anything about her. And none of us really slack off because we'll get this burning sensation at our rears if we do."

Aura really did know how to make her presence known on this ship and Sorey couldn't help but think it was a bit humorous.

"That's probably why he told you that just to make sure," Sorey commented lightly.

"I suppose," Ben replied. "But I think I'm starting to know when she's in the room."

"Can a human really improve their resonance?" Rime asked.

"If they're constantly in Aura's blessing, it's definitely possible for them to develop their resonance over time," Mikleo commented and Sorey nodded at that.

"Who knows," Sorey started to say, "maybe one day some more of you will be able to hear Aura like Tokunaga."

"I'm sure that'd make things simpler for the first mate and Tokunaga," Ben started to say. "Of course right now the only time I can seem to get that feeling is when I getting ready for the day with the other crew members."

"That's bit strange," Sorey commented. But then he got more curious when he saw that Mikleo didn't have the same expression as Sorey. In fact the water seraph actually looked a bit startled.


	4. Chapter 4: Reunion

Read, review, enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 4: Reunion

Sorey eventually found sleep, but was startled awake by some of the crew members saying they'd reach land momentarily. The sea sickness returned shortly and Mikleo had to help him get above deck. By the time they got above deck, Sorey saw that they were close to land that they were preparing the rowboat for them to get to land.

Grace was already by the boat and giving out orders to the rest of her crew. "You remember the plan?" She asked Tokunaga.

The navigator nodded. "Don't worry Captain, we'll keep a pair of eyes out for the First Mate's signal in the eastern sky," he reassured.

Grace place one of her hands on her hip. "I swear, if you louts are late," she started to say.

"We'll be at the wrong end of your gun," one of the crew members started to say, "Aye, we've heard that about a dozen times before, haven't we mates?" He asked in a joking way that got a good laugh out of everyone.

Before Sorey or Mikleo could ask what was going on, Grace noticed them and greeted them with a wave and a big smile. The way she looked reminded Sorey a lot like Rose. "Mornin' Sorey. Have you gotten your sea legs yet?"

Sorey went ahead and let his groan answer that. But forced out a "I'll be better once we're back on land."

Grace just chuckled at that. "You better," she said light heartedly. "I'll be counting on you for this job."

"We best be off then," Aura said once the rowboat was ready for them.

The fire seraph started walking toward the boat, which caused Rime to ask, "So you're coming with us too?"

Grace was the one to answer that. "Of course I'm going to need my First Mate on this job. She's a vital part."

"Plus, someone needs to make sure Grace doesn't go overboard," Aura added. "You lot don't seem up to the task."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Grace asked. She then looked over at Sorey and the others and said in a dismissive sort of way, "Pay no attention to her, it's actually the other way around. Aura's lucky no one can see her, otherwise she'd be in more trouble."

"Grace…" Aura began to mutter, but stopped to remain in her usual composure.

Grace jumped into the boat. "Come on, we're wasting the day away," she said and even pointed toward the land.

One by one, Sorey and the seraphim joined her in the rowboat.

/~/~/

 **Skit: Thinking Too Hard**

 **Mikleo** deep in thought: Hmmm...

 **Rime** : Oh, oh, Mikleo's got his thinking face on.

 **Aura** : He definitely seems like the type to overthink things.

 **Mikleo** : It's nothing like that. I was just wondering what will happen to the ship with your domain gone.

 **Aura** : They'll be fine. The ship and crew have gone long periods without my blessing.

 **Mikleo** : I see. Well, if you're not worried, then I won't give it a second thought.

 **Rime** : Oh man, I was totally wrong?

 **Aura** : About what?

 **Rime** : That wasn't the Mikleo thinking face I thought it was.

 **Mikleo** with a sigh: I'm sure I'm going to regret this, but what are you talking about?

 **Rime** : The thinking face I was talking about is where you're so deep in concentrating that you can't even get his attention.

 **Aura** : Are you sure he wasn't just ignoring you?

 **Mikleo** : Sadly I think it's true. I get so caught up trying to figure something out that I become oblivious to things around me. Some of the kids from the village have told me the same thing.

 **Rime** : Yeah, he gets so focused that even when I send a gust of wind at him he doesn't even flinch.

 **Mikleo** : I had no idea it was so hard to get my attention. I'll have to apologize to everyone in the village.

 **Rime** : You also didn't move when I threw things at you to get your attention. I even threw some potatoes at you a few times.

 **Mikleo** startled: Wait, that was you? I've been wondering where my bruises have been coming from.

 **Rime** : Eep! *Runs off*

 **Mikleo** : Rime get back here. *Runs off*

 **Aura** : ...Just what kind of weirdos has Grace found...

/~/~/

They couldn't reach land quick enough. Sorey was a bit unsteady when he was back on land, but he almost felt completely better with the steady ground beneath him. For the sake of having room on the boat, Mikleo and Rime stayed inside Sorey until they were back on land. But Aura stayed out.

One of Grace's crew members dropped them off and was rowing back to the ship after wishing them luck. Grace seemed to be getting restless and was telling all of them to hurry. They were on a time limit.

As they walked into the forest, Rime hurried beside Aura. "So are you using Grace as your vessel?" The wind seraph asked. Sorey had been curious about that as well. But he wasn't sure how or if he should ask that.

Aura didn't answer that. It was Grace. "Afraid I'd make a piss poor vessel," the sea captain said.

"Besides," Aura then chimed in. "I refuse to have a human be my vessel. They are far too unpredictable."

"But what if the place we're heading to is dangerous and crawling with hellions?" Mikleo asked.

"If you are that concerned, don't be," Aura started to say. "I have a vessel. I will be fine."

"What is your vessel?" Rime then asked.

"You certainly need to work on your manners," Aura muttered. "Asking something like that is a very personal question."

"She's not wrong," Mikleo admitted to which Rime suddenly looked embarrassed about.

"As interesting as this conversation is," Grace suddenly said with the roll of her eyes, "It'd probably be best for you all to keep your mouths shut at this point."

"Aye, captain," Aura quickly said with a nod.

But before Sorey could ask why, it was Mikleo who asked a question. "Wait, what is going on?" The water seraph sounded freaked out.

"What is it?" Sorey quickly asked.

Mikleo didn't directly say. He just pointed through the trees. Sorey looked where his friend was pointing and now that he was actually looking for it something, he could see a building not far from them through the trees. No, it was more accurate to say it was more like a fort.

"That's one of the church's military bases," Mikleo finally said.

"The mighty church's military sea base, Bayhaven, to be exact," Grace corrected.

"Don't tell me that's where we're going," Sorey snapped. "Are you really planning to steal from the church?" He started to feel sick again.

Grace just put a hand on her hip and looked like she had been asked an annoying question. "Yeah, where else did you think we were going to get a Divine Artifact."

"I thought we were going to some ruins to uncover one," Sorey argued.

She shrugged at that. "I never said anything like that. That's your own fault for thinking that." Then she started waving her hand in the air. "What's the big deal? You all didn't sound like fans of the church."

"You're planning on stealing a Divine Artifact from the church. Something a shepherd could use to defeat a really strong hellion with," Mikleo argued.

Grace took a deep breath before really looking serious. "Look, I can care less about that shit. The church is full of a bunch of assholes. And I also can care less about what you think of me or how you feel. A deal is a deal. I've already invested into you by getting you this far. So you need to pay up by disabling the barrier that will be there. Unless you're that kind of man who goes back on his word. What a shameless man."

Grace sure was manipulative. Sorey realized at that moment that he'd been playing into her hand this whole time. He balled his fist together as he asked her, "And you'll keep your word that you'll take me as close to the church's headquarters as you can?"

"I wouldn't be a good businesswoman if I didn't," Grace said with a genuine smile.

Sorey clenched his teeth together. He couldn't go back on their deal. "We're only disabling the barrier." Sorey stated bitterly.

"That's all I ask of you, choir boy," Grace said and motioned for them to follow her.

"Sorey, we're at one of the church's military bases," Mikleo started to say. "I'm sure we could just ask them to-"

But Sorey quickly interrupted him. "A deal's a deal. Besides, there's no guarantee the church would even care about me other than the fact I have high resonance."

Mikleo didn't look too convince. He had his arms crossed. But he only said, "If you say so."

Another part of Sorey still wanted to trust Grace. She wasn't emitting any malevolence. Did that mean she was doing this with the best intentions? Then there was Aura. She followed Grace loyally. To earn a seraphim's loyalty like that... He needed to see for himself what kind of world this was now.

So he followed Grace and Aura without any more out loud complaints.

They arrived at that base shortly after. Bayhaven was the military base that housed most of the church's ships and other sea weapons, as Aura had explained. The base itself looked more like a wall between the sea and the bay it was defending with a large iron gate to let many ships in at once. It had a lot of natural defenses such as large steep cliffs on both sides of the base and even around the bay where all the naval vessels were. It was clear this was only made through the power of the seraphim.

If this base were ever under attack, it certainly would be nearly impossible to take over. The only way, as Aura went on to say, was basically going through the back door of the base that was being protected by the two-type elemental barrier. It seemed like they were so sure that nothing could break the barrier that there weren't any guards present.

Sorey and the others were just going to continue walking to the barrier until both Grace and Aura pulled them back to the thick tree line. "Hey, there might still be guards or even seraphim hiding," Grace warned in a hushed voice.

"What do we do?" Sorey asked. He hated how he sounded like he was going along with this willingly.

"It's a good thing we have a wind seraph with us," Aura then said and all their eyes turned to Rime.

Rime however, just looked at everyone else. "Why are you all looking at me?" She asked.

"You're a wind seraph," Aura stated and sound really annoyed she had to explain it to her. "So you can read the wind and see if there is anything we need to be on the lookout for."

"I can do that?" Rime asked, generally surprised.

"Any wind seraph with some skill can do it," Aura pointed out.

"I see," Rime said nervously as she quickly glanced around at everyone. Then she quickly planted her feet and gave them a smile. "Alright, it shouldn't be that difficult." The wind seraph in an almost meditative stance in an upright position with her eyes closed.

For a brief moment, she looked like she was actually doing it. But then Sorey saw that her brow was beginning to knot like she was trying to hard. Aura gave Rime another minute of of this before finally putting an end to it. "Do you sense anything?" The fire seraph asked.

Rime seemed a bit startled as her eyes shot open. "Umm," she started. "I think we're clear?"

"You don't sound too sure about that," Mikleo pointed out

At that, Rime really looked like she was embarrassed and started shifting her weight from side to side like she was anxious. "Like, maybe sixty percent sure," she replied in a lower voice.

Aura put her hand over her eyes like she had a headache. "You don't know how to read wind," Aura muttered.

"I never knew that was a thing," Rime quickly defended with her head hung in defeat.

Grace just shrugged. "I've never been one for caution," she said with confidence as she practically marched to the barrier.

Aura was right behind her and even muttered, "Looks like we only have a second-rate wind seraph," as she passed Rime.

Rime looked like she had lost a fight. But she followed Sorey and Mikleo as she left the forest edge. Although the wind seraph kept muttering, "I'm second rate."

"Is she going to be okay?" Sorey whispered to Mikleo. He really felt he needed to say or do something for the wind seraph.

"I'd give it a few minutes," Mikleo muttered. "I'm sure she'll recover quickly and come up with some new exercise regiment."

 _If Mikleo says so,_ Sorey thought as he looked back at Rime who was still in a sullen mood.

Grace stopped in front of the barrier and let out a small laugh. "Damn idiots really think this barrier was all they need to keep intruders out," she said with a smile. It looked like this side was left completely unguarded. If the world really was as Sorey thought it was, then theoretically, only members of the church who were tethered to seraphim could disable the barrier. It also showed just how confident the church was that no one else could use the seraphim's power.

"It's time to earn your keep," Aura announced as she looked to her fellow seraphim.

Rime's mood didn't improve, but Mikleo gave Sorey one last look. It was like he was really hoping Sorey would change his mind. There was a small part of Sorey that was thinking he should just cut his ties with Grace and just talk with the members of the church about his situation. But again, Sorey wanted to find these answers himself.

So Sorey nodded to his friend who gave a sigh of defeat. Mikleo and Rime stepped up to the barrier. They didn't have to do much before the barrier fizzed and disappeared. Now all that was left was to break in.

"Hell yeah," Grace cheered and had a big smile plastered to her face. She was walking to the great big door and Sorey felt his stomach dropped at the thought of actually breaking into one of the church's bases.

Then Grace stopped, and there was a brief moment when Sorey hoped she would have a change of heart. But he should have known better. "I'll meet you at the top of this fort in about an hour. If you're a second late, I'm leaving your ass. Got it?"

"Fine," Sorey muttered. He stayed in place for a moment and watched as Grace and Aura walked into the Church's base with no hesitation. The two of them were really planning on stealing from the church.

"Sorey?" Mikleo seemed to begin to ask since Sorey wasn't making any moves to go in.

"Let's just get this over with," Sorey muttered as he finally stepped into the base. He wasn't even in the mood to marvel at architect that had become so different from his time.

Grace and Aura did not wait for them and were out of sight by the time they entered. Which was fine with Sorey. He had no intention of helping Grace any further. So he and the two seraphim started going the way that would leave them to the top level of the base.

/~/~/

"You have got to be shitting me," Grace muttered it frustration. In her hand was what she came here for, a Divine Artifact in the shape of a sword. And the fire type to boot. But it wasn't the real deal. Even she, a human, could tell it was just a replica.

"The church must be trying to mass produce Divine Artifacts to increase their power," Aura surmised. She was disappointed that this was a flop too. But not as much as Grace. Aura had to be the one to keep a cool head for the both of them. "If that's the case, finding real artifacts has just gotten that much harder."

Grace threw the sword with all her might onto the floor and it snapped in half from the impact. It wasn't even a good imitation if it broke like that. And that just pissed Grace off even more. She'd come across a couple imitations that were at least worth a damn. She started thinking about her information broker that told her a Divine Artifact was being kept at Bayheaven. She'd given a lot for that tidbit. "Velk, that bastard, next time I see him, I'm stringing him up on my mast for the crows to eat," she threatened as her anger just kept rising.

"Grace, you need to calm down," Aura nagged like mother or teacher. "This is not a good place to lose your emotions. My blessing can only conceal so much. We'll make sure Velk pays us back double for this. Now calm down." The crew knew not to cross their captain if they wished to remain in one piece. But if they could see Aura, they wouldn't want to piss the seraph off any more than Grace.

Aura started counting backwards and Grace took a deep breath to calm herself with. Just before Aura reached one, Grace slammed her hand against the wall that cracked slightly underneath her fist. She was still pissed, but her anger was at least at an acceptable level so Aura wouldn't keep nagging her and for her blessing to conceal it from any lord of the land that was in charge of this place.

"That's better. I'll signal the Van Eltia," Aura announced. "We best locate that boy and the two seraphim tethered to him."

Grace waved her hand in front of her face. "First let's see if they've got anything else worth stealing for wasting my time like this," she said as she walked past Aura to look in a more promising place.

"Aye, captain," Aura said and followed her.

/~/~/

It took Sorey and the others longer than they expected to reach the very top. They ended going down many dead-end hallways and avoided many people patrolling. Finally, Sorey was getting so fed up with the dead ends that they just climbed out of window up to the top. Thankfully he only had to climb about two stories.

Now he just sat on the edge looking out at the ocean waiting for Grace to show up. He had calmed down a little and even started examining the structure he was sitting on. It was definitely made by both human and seraphim.

He had looked briefly out at the bay the fort protected and there did seem to be a big city across the water. It was much bigger than the Lady Lake. Even Mikleo commented that the last time he had been in the area, the city didn't look as big as it did now. They were still too far that Sorey couldn't see any flags or emblems to show what country the city belonged to.

"The view up here's not too bad'" Rime muttered as she looked out at the ocean.

"Better than your view from the village?" Sorey asked in a small joking manner.

Rime folded her arms across her chest as she seemed to think pretty hard on it. "I don't know," she said as she looked like she was still concentrating. "It looks the exact same. But for some reason I feel more excited seeing this then I did back at the village."

"It's probably because you're finally traveling like you wanted," Mikleo commented. He was a few steps away like he was on lookout.

Rime still didn't seem to convinced. "I guess," she muttered.

"I've actually been meaning to ask this for a while now," Sorey started. "We're you always living in the village?" He couldn't imagine she would have gotten very far with her low tolerance for malevolence.

"I've been with the village for a long time. But I actually used to live alone in some ruins till Shaun happened to stumble upon me and invited me to live with more seraphim," Rime explained.

"Really? What ruins were they? What were they like?" Sorey asked. He wished this was something they had talked about yesterday. That way he could have been more interested instead of trying to figure out Grace's motives.

Rime looked like she was trying to figure out a puzzle as she scratched the side of her head. "I don't know. They were just ruins, you know. Old and worn out."

Sorey suppose he wasn't expecting a conversation like he and Mikleo had about ruins. But if all Rime knew about were those specific ruins and the small village, she was about as sheltered as he and Mikleo had been...well a few hundred years ago.

"The ruin that Rime used to live in is the one we reunited at," Mikleo went on to explain.

"Really, is that the reason why Shaun wanted you to look into it?" Sorey asked. Mikleo still hadn't really told him anything about those ruins. Although that would just raise more questions for Shaun.

"He didn't tell me anything specific," Mikleo answered. "He just asked if I'd take a look to see if there was anything strange there."

"That's real vague," Rime commented.

"No kidding," Sorey agreed. But there had to be a reason Shaun wanted Mikleo to look into the ruins. The earth seraph certainly wasn't interested in archaeology. When he's settled his curiosity with the church, Sorey planned to head back to the village to ask Shaun about that.

"It wouldn't surprise me if he just wanted to make sure Rime didn't mess up the ruins," Mikleo joked.

Both he and Sorey knew that wasn't the reason. But it was a bit funny seeing Rime get worked up. "Come on, they were like that when I got there," Rime whined. "Otherwise, they wouldn't be 'ruins,' right?"

"Well, some things probably did get damaged with the way you train," Sorey teased lightly.

"C-come on guys," Rime started to say as she got flustered. "I'm not that training crazy."

"Yeah, you kinda are," Mikleo pointed out.

"From what I've seen, you're clearly passionate about training," Sorey continued to tease much to Rime's dismay. While Sorey didn't fully understand why Rime felt so embarrassed about, he did find it a bit funny.

But while he and Mikleo were getting a small laugh out of Rime's expense, they never noticed that someone else had joined them at the top of the base. "So you intruders broke into the Holy Church's base just to sight see?"

Sorey jumped to his feet as both Mikleo and Rime got ready if they were in for a fight. By the stairway that led back into base, was a guy maybe a little older than Sorey. He had short blonde hair that was combed nicely. He wore a mantle similar to Sorey's, but it looked more like a cloak. The new guy also wore fancy looking white tunic and pants. In his hands, he pointed a partisan polearm, that looked more like it was a ceremonial weapon, at Sorey. "You even mock us by wearing a shepherd's mantle of old. I will not excuse this insolence," he went on to say that made Sorey know that he meant him harm.

"He's a shepherd," Mikleo exclaimed.

"Darn," Sorey muttered. The last thing he was hoping to run into was a shepherd. Sorey quickly raised his hands to show he wasn't going for his weapon. "Please, I don't wish to fight. If you'll let me explain-"

"Save it," the shepherd interrupted, which may have been better that Sorey didn't try to explain. What could he have said that didn't make this situation worse? "And how dare you, a common intruder have holy seraphim tethered to you. Your insolence knows no-"

But he was interrupted too by his own seraphim leaving from inside him. Somehow it startled him. It was a fire seraph with long silver hair and red robes. The seraph's face lit up when she saw Sorey. "Sorey," she said like she was about to cry. "Oh thank goodness, it's really you."

Sorey felt himself lose his breath for a moment. "Lailah," he called out. He couldn't contain his excitement and ran toward her. He couldn't believe he hadn't recognized her sooner. She didn't look all that different after all this time.

The shepherd looked taken aback and was about to reach for Lailah who was running toward them. "Lady Lailah," he started to say.

But then another seraph exited him and appeared behind him. This one had an umbrella and used it to poke the shepherd in the back of the head. "Idiot," that seraph said in a monotone voice.

She opened her umbrella to shield herself from the sun as she walked around the shepherd. It took Sorey a minute to realize who she was. "Edna?" Sorey asked in disbelief.

"What, you think Lailah would hang out with any other earth seraph?" Edna answered in her usual manner.

But Sorey couldn't get over how different Edna looked. She was taller, still shorter than Sorey, and her hair had grown out. And she was wearing a long black jacket that looked like it was about three sizes too big for her. But she still had the same expression and carried the umbrella the same way. She was definitely the same.

"Oh Sorey, I was starting to worry we already missed your return," Lailah went on and looked like she was about to cry. "Or that…"

Before Sorey could say anything, Edna shot a glare at Mikleo. "What's this Meebo, can't even tell us when Sorey returns? How unreliable can you be?"

It suddenly looked like old times the way Mikleo went red in the face and balled his fist as he said, "How many times have I told you not to call me that? I'm not the same kid as before."

"You still seem like the same old Meebo to me, Meebo," Edna mocked.

"What's a 'meebo'?" Rime suddenly asked.

"It's what an inexperienced and unreliable water seraph is called," Edna answered before Mikleo could.

"It is not," Mikleo argued. "I see you haven't changed one bit since I last time I saw you. What was it, seventy years or so?"

"Sounds about right. And it looks like Meebo has only turned into more of a Meebo with time," Edna retorted with a smile.

Mikleo, still trying to stay composed, retorted, "For someone who's gotten taller, you're still as spiteful as a shorty."

Before Sorey or even Lailah could try and stop it, it was Rime that seem stop it. "No way, no way, no way," the wind seraph exclaimed as she was scratching her head in frustration. "This can't be happening. No way."

Sorey blinked at Rime. "Is...is everything okay?" Sorey asked hesitantly. He wasn't sure what got her so worked.

"An old flame, no way," Rime went on to say. "Damn it, it's too cute…"

"Rime?" Sorey started to ask as he took a step toward her. He was really starting to get worried about her. But when he did, she suddenly vanished and returned to Sorey. She clearly didn't want to talk right now.

"That's possibly the weirdest wind seraph that's used you as a vessel," Edna commented.

"You might actually be right about that," Mikleo commented.

"So, you really are Sorey," Sorey heard the Shepherd muttered. He had lowered his weapon was with his eyes downcast onto the ground. But when Sorey looked back at him, he seemed to know and quickly recompose himself to, as the seraphim would probably point out, act like a shepherd. "Apologies for earlier," he said with a smile that even Sorey could tell was forced. But he couldn't really tell why the shepherd seemed disappointed. "My name is Silas. I guess that makes you my predecessor if you really are the same Sorey Lady Edna talks about," he went on to introduce.

"Predecessor?" Sorey asked.

But Lailah let out a small giggle. "That's just how they refer the previous shepherds who were tethered to the same seraphim."

"I see," Sorey muttered as he scratched the back of his head. It was so weird to actually meet a shepherd that came after him. "Well you don't have to think of me like that, it has been a really long time since I was the Shepherd."

Suddenly Silas dropped to his hands and knees. Before Sorey could ask if he was okay, Silas, in a panicked voice started rambling. "My insolence knows no bounds. I condemned a previous Shepherd and his garments. I'm so ashamed."

Now Sorey felt a bit embarrassed. "It's really no problem," Sorey quickly told him in hopes he'd pick himself back up. Maybe he wasn't an ideal shepherd either. Just like Sorey had been.

Sila was still on all fours looking at the ground. "No, I've offended my predecessor and made fun of his shepherd's cloak." He couldn't see his face, but Sorey was pretty sure Silas was crying.

 _Is he really getting all worked up because he thinks I'm upset about what he said about my outfit? "_ Really, it's alright," Sorey tried to reassure. _Please just get up,_ Sorey wanted to tell him.

"You're embarrassing yourself," Edna said was she walked over to the shepherd and poked him in the side with her umbrella. Edna must have poked a sensitive spot the way he rolled to his side let out a squalled. The earth seraph rolled her eyes and opened her umbrella as she faced the rest of them.

While Sorey tried not to look at the Shepherd's unsightly display, he directed a question at Edna. "Kind of surprising that you'd be the one talking about me, Edna," he said jokingly in hopes of lighting up the mood.

But he did everything but. The seraphim and even Silas all came to an uncomfortable silence. Without looking at Sorey, Edna answered, "Well someone had too."

It very slowly dawned on Sorey to what Edna was meaning. Lailah couldn't talk about Sorey. Her vow was linked to Maotelus and now Sorey was tied to him now. It would be hard for her to talk about him without bringing up Maotelus.

Sorey dropped his eyes to the ground. "I'm so sorry Lailah," Sorey said.

But he heard Lailah giggle. "Now why on earth would you be apologizing for?" She asked him with the smile she had always worn. "Those are very fond memories. And you're back now, that's all that matters."

Sorey let out a weak laugh. "Yeah, it's so good to see you two again."

"Speaking which, what brings you here?" Lailah asked.

"It's a bit of a long story," Sorey said as he began to wonder where to begin. Should he mention that he broke in with someone else?

He looked to Mikleo for help and the water seraph went on. "We were actually on our way to find you two. What are the chances, right?" Mikleo looked a bit uneasy about telling them about their break in too.

"Not to be rude," Silas suddenly interrupted. "Can we put this conversation on pause for now? We're currently looking for some cretins that have broken into the church's base. Feel free to wait inside until we are done Predecessor Sorey."

 _Does he really not think it's us?_ Sorey couldn't help but wonder as he gave Silas a helpless look. The other seraphim seemed to be giving him the same look.

Edna poked Silas with her umbrella again. "We've already found them, dummy."

It actually took Silas a moment to connect the dots. Sorey could actually see the moment he figured it all out. "Wait, you're the one who disarmed the barrier?" Silas asked sounding shocked.

"I guess it's time for our long story," Mikleo said.

"Yeah," Sorey said with a sigh. He started thinking about where to start.

When suddenly in a flash, Silas' eyes narrowed like he did when he first met Sorey. And before Sorey even had a chance to ask what was wrong, Silas pivoted around and swiped his weapon upwards. As soon as he did, Sorey heard a gun go off and a spark appear in front of Silas.  
Even without seeing what had happened, he still felt dread. He felt even more when he looked around Silas to see Grace standing by the door with her gun pointed at Silas. Aura was right next to Grace and even had a hand rested on the gun, but not in a way that was trying to prevent Grace from shooting anyone. She was supplying power.  
Sorey was trying to go around Silas so he could stop Grace when Silas said, "A woman with red hair and a fire seraph," Silas muttered as he repositioned his weapon. "I suppose that makes you the Dreaded Pirate Van Aifread."  
At that, Sorey stopped in his tracks. "Pirate?" He repeated.  
He looked at Grace, for some reason he was hoping she would deny it. But she had that devious smile and rolled her gun in her hand. "About time people started knowing who I am," she said, confirming what Silas was saying, much to Sorey's dismay.

"It would seem our information wasn't wrong after all Captain," Sorey could hear Aura tell Grace as she lowered her hand from the gun. "I can sense that the young Shepherd here has a Divine Artifact on him."

Grace scratched her head. "I'm still teaching Velk a lesson. He seemed to forget to tell us it belonged to a shepherd." Her eyes turned serious as she pulled the hammer back from the gun. "So, _oh humble_ _Shepherd_ ," she said sarcastically, "why don't you make this easy and just hand over the artifact."

Silas bent his knees slightly with his weapon by his back for his attack. "Like I'd do anything a criminal said," Silas scoffed.

Sorey couldn't believe what was happening. Flames appeared in front of Aura's hands and when she reached into the them, they vanished to show a thin saber in her hand as she held it in fighting stance. Grace gave an annoyed sigh as she drew her sword with her free hand. "This is what I hate about men like you. You just have to make things more complicated than they need to be," she said and on the last line, she pulled the trigger.

Lailah shot a small fireball to intercept that caused a small explosion of smoke to temporary obstruct their view. But then out of the smoke came Aura with her saber going to attack Lailah. Slips of paper appeared in front of Lailah to shield her from the saber. Before Aura even had a chance to react, the stones below her feet suddenly rose sharply that sent Aura into the air by Edna. But that didn't faze Aura in the slightest as she was up in the air. Magic circles appeared before in front of her. She stabbed her saber through the one in the center and a rain of fire fell on Edna and Lailah. Both which protected themselves from the element.

It all happened so quickly that Sorey couldn't hardly form words. Then he saw that Grace and Silas were in exchanging blows. Sorey already knew how well Grace could fight, but he was a bit surprise to see Silas holding his own against Grace's wild attacks.

But it was quickly overshadowed by the fact that the two of them were really fighting like they were trying to kill each other. Grace had this smile on her face as she swung her sword as Silas blocked each one of them with his polearm. He was even able to dodge Grace's point blank shots.

"Stop it," Sorey tried to shout. But with all the fighting his voice fell silent. Even if Grace was a pirate, he couldn't stand and watch the two of them fight and hurt one another.

 _"What should we do?"_ Rime asked him. She hadn't manifested yet because she was just as confused as they were. Did they have to fight one another? Did they need to pick a side?

Sorey then took off toward Silas and Grace. "Mikleo, try and stop them," Sorey told his friend as he gestured to the three seraphim fighting. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the water seraph groan a bit with having to get in the middle of such a big fight. But he drew out his staff.

Sorey drew his weapon and jumped in the middle of the fight when the two of them put distance between each other. As they were closing the distance, Silas had his polearm going for a stab while Grace had both of her weapons at her side. Sorey took the chance. He grabbed the pole part of Silas' weapon with his free hand and pushed it down toward the ground. With his own weapon, Sorey swiped it in the air in front of Grace. He had no intention of hitting her, he just wanted to make her keep her distance. And she jumped back away from him.

"What the hell Sorey," Grace barked. She looked ready to cut through him to get to Silas. He had yet to see her get angry and Sorey actually felt himself flinch at her. "Get out of the way so I can kill the Shepherd."

 _What is this?_ Sorey couldn't help but briefly wonder. There's only been a handful of times where he felt generally fearful of someone. This didn't seem like the same Grace.

 _"It's almost like she's a hellion,"_ Rime said. She seemed to be getting the same feeling.

 _But there's absolutely no malevolence,_ Sorey commented. None. Grace wasn't turning into one and wasn't producing any malevolence. He just didn't understand what was happening.

But he quickly shook the feeling he had. "You said no one would get hurt," Sorey said firmly.

Grace took a breath, and almost instantly the feeling he had gotten was gone. "Geez, I just got caught up in the moment, okay," she said, sounding like the Grace he first met. "But I'm getting that Divine Artifact. I'm not leaving here empty handed."

"But Grace," Sorey started to say.

But then he suddenly felt the polearm being pulled out of his hand. Sorey had almost forgotten he still had a hold on Silas' weapon. When he looked back, he saw a confused look from Silas as he held his polearm pointed at Sorey. "You're working with that pirate?" He asked in disbelief.

"It's not-" But again Sorey couldn't finish. He suddenly felt an arm rest on his shoulder.

"If not for him, we never would have gotten into this base," Grace said in a cheerful tone. "Think of him as an honorary member of my crew."

Sorey widen his eyes at Grace who had a smile on her face. "No, it's not like that. It's-" Sorey quickly tried to explain.

"Enough," Silas shouted, interrupting Sorey once more. Now the Shepherd looked like he did when he first encountered Sorey as he got ready to fight. "Associating with pirates. You sully the Shepherd's reputation. You have no right associating yourself with us or to wear that mantle on your shoulders."

Sorey had just met Silas, but to hear him say that felt like a punch to his chest. This was the first time Sorey had ever met another shepherd, and this was how it turned out. With him pointing his weapon at him and not recognizing him as fellow shepherd. Sorey never imagined such a situation and he couldn't believe how much it hurt.

All of a sudden, "Shepherd Silas," was shouted by a few new voices. When Sorey looked behind him, he saw people in armor and white mantles was now on the roof, ready to provide Silas with backup.

Grace no longer had that grin on her face as she assessed the situation. "Shit," Sorey heard her curse.

Sorey took the moment glance over at Mikleo and the others. He was sort of hoping that Mikleo or even Lailah would have a solution for this horrible situation they were in. What he saw was the area the seraphim where fighting was covered in ice and Aura's legs were frozen in place. Both Aura and Edna were giving Mikleo the death stare for stopping the fight.

Before Sorey could try come up with something to say, Grace went on to say. "As much as I want the Artifact, I'm not about to take on a whole army for it," she said it so casually that Sorey had thought that he might have misheard her. How could she sound so calm in a situation like this?

"Aura," Sorey heard Mikleo shout. Flames surrounded the old looking fire seraph that broke her legs free from the ice. Then the flames quickly enveloped her and she disappeared. Sorey felt a sudden intense heat at his side and when he looked, he saw that Aura appeared in the flames next to Grace. The seraph didn't put her guard down and held her saber out in front of her.

All of a sudden Grace's arm snaked around Sorey's neck. "So it's time for us to leave," Grace said.

Before Sorey realized it, he felt himself being pulled back. And then he quickly began to realize that both he and Grace were in freefall. She had leaned completely off the side and they were falling down into the ocean. He could hear a couple of his seraphim friends calling his name.

"Wind seraph," he suddenly heard Aura say and then he realized that the fire seraph was falling next to them, "If you do not wish to lose your vessel, you best use your winds to save the humans."

The next thing Sorey knew was that he felt like he was being tossed before hitting the ground with his rear. It took a moment for him to get his bearings. But he soon realized he was on a ship. And not just any ship, Grace's. He heard the sailors-no, pirates ask Grace how things went, which she replied that it was a waste. She was on her feet and looked completely unaffected by the fall as she was talking.

As Sorey was catching his breath, he heard Aura comment, "It's good to see that you're not a completely useless wind seraph." She was talking to Rime.

Rime had no reply. She held one of her arms and was looking down at deck.

Sorey felt something leave him and could hear someone else trying to catch his breath. "I almost didn't get to you in time," Mikleo said in between breaths. Sorey relaxed slightly knowing that Mikleo was still with him. If he hadn't been as quick as he was, they would have been separated.

But Sorey didn't let himself feel relieved for long as he quickly got to his feet at that moment and ignored the spinning his head was doing and the churning his stomach was doing once he realized how badly the boat was moving in the waves. "What was that?" He demanded.

Grace just shrugged. "Me saving your ass. That Shepherd looked like he was going to execute you or worse. You're welcome."

"But what's this about you being a pirate and wanting to hurt Silas?" Sorey quickly asked.

He could hear a couple or the sailors- no, pirates chuckle at that.

"Well I am a pirate and that Shepherd was getting in my way," Grace answered simply. "I thought all that was obvious." Grace then quickly turned back to her crew and was shouting orders at them to make as much distance as possible. Aura quickly went up to Grace and whispered something in her ear.

He had no idea what to say to that. He just clenched his fist. He felt so foolish for letting himself get tricked by Grace. How could he have compared her to Sergei or Rose?

"I'm so sorry Sorey," Rime suddenly said. She was still looking down at the deck. She actually looked like she was about to cry. "I choked when the fighting started. I just didn't know what to do. And then when you were falling, the ship was the closest thing I could have you land safely on," she tried to defend.

"It's definitely not your fault," Sorey told her. "I didn't do anything to help my situation anymore."

"You protected Sorey, that's all I can ask of you," Mikleo told her.

That didn't change Rime's mood.

"Well it looks like we've got more things to talk about," Grace suddenly said as she came closer to Sorey. "So why don't you three wait in my cabin while Aura tells me whatever it is that can't wait, kay?"

Sorey just glared at her. What more could there be to talk about, other than him telling her he wanted off this ship. Or better yet, tell her to turn this ship around so he could go back and apologize to Silas.

But like she knew what he, and maybe even Mikleo, were thinking, Aura said, "Remember, you are in my domain with the entire crew's belief in me." She was warning

 _A domain takes the shape of the strongest. It has nothing to do with being right or wrong,_ Sorey remembered what Lailah had told him. If they were in Aura's domain, then that meant she was stronger. Maybe both Mikleo and Rime could together. But out in the middle of the ocean where none of them could swim. They couldn't risk damaging the ship or even any of the lives of its crew members with a big seraphim battle. Even if they were pirates.

Sorey made a fist by his side in frustration at the thought of being trapped. "Fine," Sorey told her plainly.

 **/~/~/**

"Shepherd Silas, it appears the Dreaded Pirate Aifread has gotten away. Our men saw the Van Eltia sailing away," a knight reported to Silas as he continued to look down at where Aifread and the phony Shepherd escaped to. "It appears they must have used a wind seraph to get aboard the ship."

"Captain, how did the ship sneak by us without a single alarm being raised?" Silas asked.

He was still so angry over letting them get way. He should have been able to capture those pirates. But he was mainly still mauling over Sorey. He had meet the legendary Shepherd Sorey that Edna and Lailah talked so highly of. And he worked with pirates and showed he was an enemy of the church.

"Sorry Shepherd, we were too focused on the intruders," the knight began to explain. "Even the seraph with the domain over this base couldn't detect it because he was trying to figure out how the intruders got in without his knowing."

That caught Silas' attention that he turned to look at the knight. "Explain," he ordered.

"The Lord of the Land only noticed the pirates when they were already in the base. He said it was like they just suddenly appeared."

"He didn't sense them until they were already in?" Silas repeated to himself. The domain extended into the forest for a couple of miles. They should have known they were approaching. Silas could understand how the seraph could have mistaken the phony Shepherd. He had two seraphim tethered to him, he could have passed for a squire. But how did the pirate get in? That fire seraph wasn't tethered to a person. That also would have risen the alarm if there any wandering seraphim.

"It's obvious that it was the fire seraph's doing," Lady Edna spoke plainly as she twirled her umbrella.

Lady Lailah clapped her hands together. "Of course, why didn't I think of it sooner," she chimed in.

"What is so obvious about this?" Silas asked his two seraphim. But that earned him a smack on the head by Lady Edna's umbrella. It made him wonder if she had been like this with that phony Sorey.

"There had been rumors for hundreds of years of a fire seraphim whose power was on pair with a Lord of the Land," Lady Lailah explained.

"But she refused to offer any of her power to earth dwellers," Lady Edna added. "So it'd make sense that her blessing could become something like hiding her presence from both man and seraphim if she despised people that much she wanted to avoid them."

"Thus making her the recluse wandering fire seraph," Lady Lailah added.

"So this famed seraph and once holy Shepherd have joined pirates?" Silas muttered.

There was a brief moment of silence before Lady Lailah spoke. "Silas, Sorey isn't a pirate. I think it would be more accurate to say he was kidnapped. He didn't seem to leave with Aifread willingly."

"Lady Lailah, I know you think fondly of him. But he helped the pirates to break in and he was clearly in league with her," Silas explained. He really didn't want to talk about that phony anymore.

"I don't really think he was "clearly in league" with the pirates," Lailah said. "He was probably tricked by her more likely."

"It doesn't matter," Silas suddenly snapped. It both startled his two seraphim companions and himself. He had never so much as raised his voice at them. But he quickly composed himself. "The laws state that anyone in association with piracy are traitors to the state. Regardless, he's our enemy know."

"Can we really be certain that that was really Sorey though?" Lady Edna suddenly said. "For all we know, it could have just been an illusion or an imposter by that white-haired Faust. You know how he likes to trick our gullible Shepherd."

 _No, that has to be the real Sorey_ , Silas thought desperately. _I...I can't live up to the real Sorey if that's the case. I can barely live up to my uncle's expectations._ It was wrong of him to think of his predecessor like this, but Silas was glad that things turned out like this. It was a relief to see the mighty fall. It gave him a chance to rise.

"But Mikleo was with him, surely he wouldn't be fooled," Lady Lailah said.

"It'd be easy to fool Meebo. I'm sure he's really been missing Sorey," Lady Edna explained.

"Maybe..." Lailah began to ponder the thought.

"That's enough talk about that," Silas interrupted. "We have our mission to complete." Silas started walking away from the edge. He'd already spent more time at Bayheaven then he had intended.

"Shepherd Silas, you know the General will want you to accompany him in chasing down Aifread's crew," the knight told him.

Silas didn't stop and kept walking with his two seraphim. "I am a Shepherd, my duty is to purify hellions, not use the seraphim's power to hunt down pirates," he said in a firm voice. "There is a village nearby that have had some of their own turn into hellions. And I've wasted enough of their time stopping to provide this base with a stronger barrier." _I am a Shepherd, I must act like one._

"But Shepherd Myung's reports say that the Pirate Van Aifread was a hellion," the knight quickly said. "Is it not the Shepherd's duty to get rid of dangerous hellions?"

"I saw no proof that Aifread was a hellion," Silas rebuked. "Besides, any Squire can take out a forsaken hellion. I read the report too, Shepherd Myung reported purification didn't work." And he kept walking. He had to focus on saving the people he could with the powers he had. When purification couldn't work, then it was then the Squire's task to eliminate them.

When he and his seraphim were in the stairwell, Lady Edna said, "What a surprise, our Shepherd can act like a Shepherd when he wants to."

"Come on Lady Edna, I always act Shepherdly," Silas quickly defended. He was aware of how red his face was. But he was at least grateful that she waited to say that when it was just them.

Then he felt her umbrella on his head again. "And there's our immature Silas again. I got to worry that you might be one of Faust's illusions again," Edna said plainly. Silas groaned at the memory of when Squire Faust made an illusion of Silas and neither of his seraphim noticed it wasn't really him for almost a week. He wasn't sure which was worse, the fact he was easily fooled by Squire Faust or that Lady Edna said she missed the illusion of him. "He was way more dependable than the current you," she had said.

Silas looked to Lady Lailah for help with Lady Edna. But he saw that her mind was elsewhere. She gripped her arm and he knew she was looking at something that wasn't even there. He'd come to learn that that look was when she was thinking about Sorey. She was really worried about him.

But Silas shook his head and smack the sides of his face. Without saying another word, he turned and continued on. He was the Shepherd now. And he had a duty to do.


	5. Chapter 5: Welcome to the Crew

Read, review, enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 5: Welcome to the Crew

"Hey, Mikleo, you travel around a lot. How come you didn't know about the Dread Pirate Van Aifread?" Rime asked as the three of them where waiting for Grace in their quarters. The three of them were in a sullen mood. Rime seemed to be the one to bounce back from it.

"Of course I knew about Van Aifread," Mikleo quickly clarified. He must have really been kicking himself if he had known about Aifread. He must have been going over in his mind how he could have avoided this. "You can't hardly go into a port town without hearing about him. But I have always heard that he was an older man with a beard and was even missing a hand," he went on to explain.

"Sounds like the previous Van Aifread," Grace suddenly said. It startled all three of them because they never heard Grace and Aura enter the room. Aura quickly closed the door behind them as they entered.

"Wait, the previous Aifread?" Mikleo asked.

Grace had a smile on as she began to explain. "Of course, Van Aifread isn't my real name, or the real name of any of the previous Aifreads."

"They treat that name more like a title," Aura went on to explain. "Some pass that title on to someone else when they wish to retire, while others will only give it up if they're killed."

"Why would they go to such lengths for a name?" Rime asked. "I mean, I get being captain. But taking the same name just seems silly."

Grace's smile remained. "While most people have probably caught on to the gimmick by now, the fact that the name Aifread has been synonymous with terror among sailors for hundreds of years is quite an achievement. They never know what to expect when they come across the Van Eltia. Plus Aifread just sounds badass. According to legend, that wasn't even the name of the first pirate Aifread. It was like Robert or something. He changed it because no one would have been afraid of a name like Robert. 'Oh look out, it's the Dreaded Pirate Robert.' The Dreaded Pirate Van Aifread sounds way better."

"Just get to the point," Sorey snapped. Grace was liable to go on praising their piracy if he didn't stop her. "What is it you need to talk with us about?" He didn't want to talk with Grace. His mind was made up at this point on what to do.

Grace's smile seemed to turn more devious. "Look I get it," she said. "You're pissed that I wasn't completely upfront with you about who I was. But you can't be acting so innocent in this either, Mr. Calamity Slayer."

Sorey just blinked at Grace. "What did you call me?" He asked in utter confusion.

But Mikleo went defensive. "How do you know about that?" His seraph friend quickly asked. Now Sorey was looking between Grace and Mikleo.

"I've been around a long-time water seraph," Aura stated. "I was around when you became this human's sub-lord. Although I'm ashamed to admit it, I didn't put the pieces together until I saw him with the prime lord."

Sorey had been correct in thinking Aura was old. She had been around for over six hundred years and had probably seen him from a distance or something. "So when you call me a Calamity Slayer-"

Mikleo finished it for him. "You killing the Lord of Calamity. Any Shepherd whose defeated one earns the title."

Had there been more Lord of Calamities while he was gone? That could explain why it took so long to purify Maotelus and the land if more Calamities were born to spread malevolence.

"Even the current Pope has that title," Grace said casually. "That was maybe, what, thirty years ago or something?"

"Sounds about right," Aura agreed.

"So that was the big thing the two of you had to discuss?" Sorey added and he tried to stay in the present. He was still reeling with what he learned. But he wasn't sure why she was bringing this up. Did she think he could blackmail him or something? No, it had to be something else. Grace was far too calculating for that.

"No," Grace answered simply. Then she said the next part in such a casual way that it took Sorey a moment to process. "Aura, being a worry wart about this whole thing, thinks we just need to throw you overboard and be rid of you before you cause us trouble."

Mikleo got in front of Sorey like he thought they would go ahead and attack and Rime got to his side. "Why would you think Sorey would mean you harm?" Mikleo demanded.

Grace, however, just shrugged. "Like I said, she's a worry wart. Thinks I can't handle someone who's taken out a Lord of Calamity. But I'm sure she can be persuaded once we get to know each other and do a few more jobs together."

"I want off at the next harbor," Sorey said firmly. He had no intention of getting dragged around anymore by Grace.

It was Grace's turn to look startled. "Hey now, I promised you I'd get you as close to Sanctus Isle as I could. I may be a pirate, but I intend to keep up my end of the bargain."

"Just forget it, I want off the ship as soon as possible," Sorey repeated.

Grace let out a sigh. "Fine, you seem like a stubborn person. This marks the end of our partnership. A damn shame really."

"That's it?" Rime asked. "You're a pirate, couldn't you just force us or something?" Sorey was actually wondering the same thing.

"You're a Calamity Slayer for a reason," Grace answered. "I don't intend to find out why. Especially on my ship. Aura, give Tokunaga the order to dock at the next harbor."

"Very well Captain," Aura answered before she just disappeared in flames.

The pirate captain had a smile on her face as she said, "You're considered guests on my ship until we dock. But get the hell out of my quarters."

Again she said it so calmly. But Sorey was eager to leave. So he and his two seraphim friends left the cabin.

/~/~/

It didn't take long before Aura returned the way she left. "Where's Takunaga planning to dock?" Grace asked her first mate as she sat at her desk that was a mess with paper and what Aura would call junk all over it.

"Arkala Harbor," Aura answered. "Although he thinks we should sail a little further since the church is likely trying to catch us after our little stunt."

Grace completely ignored the last part. "Hmm, they won't make a big fuss if we make birth there," Grace muttered as she leaned back in her chair.

"What are you scheming?" Aura asked. "It's best if we part ways with that former Shepherd as I suggested."

"Yeah, yeah. He's dangerous and strong. I understand that," Grace moaned as she put her hands behind her head. Her first mate worried way too much. It was that and her nagging that kept her from being the perfect second in command. But at least it was warranted in this situation. Sorey...he had the strength to defeat Calamity itself… She started feeling excited in her gut just thinking about fighting something like that.

"Grace, I'm serious. We shouldn't keep him. I told you who he was because I hoped you'd understand just how dangerous he is to us," Aura warned as she slammed her hand on the desk.

Grace leaned forward so she was face to face with her first mate. "That just makes me want him all the more," Grace told her. "He's strong and a perfect vessel for seraphim. I can't say that about most of our own crew. You said he had four seraphim tethered to him when he defeated a Lord of Calamity? How rare is that we can find a person who can handle two and hasn't already been snatched by the church?"

Aura had that look as she was holding back her scolding. "I would like to point out that I'm against whatever it is you're planning," Aura nagged.

Grace just waved her hand in front of her. "Whatever, just get me a slyphjay."

She could hear Aura sigh as she moved toward her task. "Aye, aye Captain," she said in a tired voice.

/~/~/

Sorey wished he could have just avoided the whole crew. But he ended up staying above deck because he kept getting sea sick. Mikleo and Rime stood nearby the whole time.

When he wasn't hunched over the side puking, he observed the crew. Even though he knew he was on a pirate ship and with a pirate crew, nothing about them seemed different to him. It was like nothing was different. Was this just what pirates were like? If Sorey had ever been on a normal ship, would he have been able to tell that he was with pirates? He just felt awful, and not because of his sea sickness.

"Hey, boy," a gruff voice suddenly said that startled Sorey a bit. He looked up and saw it was Tokunaga. "The first mate gave me orders to dock at the nearest port, despite the fact that we're likely being chased. Is it 'cause of you?"

"I just think it's best if we parted ways," Sorey said. He didn't wish to stir anything up while he was still in their services. At this moment, he had to rely on them.

Tokunaga had his arms crossed. "Well that's none of my business, do what you gotta do. I just wanted to know for sure why we were making an unnecessary stop," the navigator said as he started walking away back to his duties.

"Mr. Tokunaga," Sorey started to say.

"Tokunaga," he interrupted. He still kept his back to Sorey.

There was a slight pause as Sorey briefly wondered if he should even bother asking. But he did anyway. "Why are all you pirates?"

Tokunaga glanced back and Sorey was pretty sure he saw pity in his eye for a second. "So you really had no idea we were pirates," Tokunaga said before his gruff expression returned. "Well, I sure as hell ain't going to tell you why I'm here. But each of us have our own reasons for being part of this crew and we each follow our own creed. For some, that freedom is why we're here."

"But it's surprising that none of you are hellions if you take into account how pirates normally are," Mikleo pointed out.

"So there's no one here that's a hellion? That's surprising," Tokunaga repeated is disbelief. "Well it wouldn't really matter, as long as they don't turn on the crew, we could really care less if they're human, hellion, or seraphim." With that he left them.

Sorey supposed he could understand why it wasn't a big deal for the pirates when none of them would be able to see the physical difference. But he didn't really. Not when most of this world seemed to understand hellions and had a system, though flawed, that could save them. He never thought that what Maotelus said was-

"I get that being a pirate is bad and all," Rime suddenly said that interrupted Sorey's thoughts, "But they're a spirited a bunch."

"Are you saying you're going to miss them?" Mikleo asked.

Rime actually seemed to think about that. "Maybe," Rime started. "But it's more like feeling let down a bit because we can't keep traveling like this. It's kind of neat traveling with such a large group as lively as them."

"Yeah, it was nice while it lasted," Sorey muttered. _Minus the seasickness,_ Sorey thought bitterly. This crew was very lively and he was sure there wouldn't have been a dull moment.

"I guess I see what you mean," Mikleo said. "But this was always going to be temporary thing. Besides, it's better we get off this ship as soon as possible. They're pirates, so it's only a matter of time before they're killed or malevolence over takes them."

 _Yeah, it's better we leave as soon as we can,_ Sorey thought just before he had to lean over the side and throw up.

/~/~/

 **Skit: Nicknames**

 **Mikleo** : Is she still sulking?

 **Rime** : …

 **Sorey** : Yep. Come on Rime, what's wrong?

 **Rime** : That earth seraph…

 **Sorey** : Who, Edna?

 **Rime** : Yes, what's the story between her and Mikleo?

 **Mikleo** : Story? We're old companions.

 **Sorey** : Yeah, we all used to travel together a long time ago. They even used me as their vessel.

 **Rime** looking shocked: You mean they shared a vessel?

 **Mikleo** looking confused: Well yeah. Sorey borrowed our power. So of course we dwelled inside him.

 **Rime** being depressed: They shared a vessel and had cute pet names for each other…

 **Sorey** : Pet names?

 **Rime** : Edna calling Mikleo 'Meebo'.

 **Mikleo** : I don't see why you're getting so worked up for. Edna's always been like that.

 **Rime** still looking depressed.

 **Sorey** to Mikleo: Do you think she's sad she doesn't have a nickname or something?

 **Mikleo** : Maybe…

 **Sorey** : Hey Rime, Edna's like that with everyone, she gives nicknames to everyone.

 **Rime** : Oh really, then what's her nickname for you Sorey?

 **Sorey** : My nickname...well she called me an idiot a few times…

 **Rime** : Agh, that doesn't count. I'm going to lose. *Runs off*

 **Mikleo** : Seriously, all this over a nickname…

 **Sorey:** She must really want one. We should think of one for her.

/~/~/

"Last chance to reconsider staying with us," Grace said as they docked at a place called Arkala Harbor. "You'd be able to make so much gald joining my crew."

"I don't need anything," Sorey told her firmly as he got on the dock. His legs felt a bit shaky and he wasn't sure if it was from being seasick or just from being on the ocean for as long as he had.

Grace gave an annoyed huff as she shrugged. "Fine, our partnership was fun while it lasted. But if you ever decide to become a pirate don't hesitate to come find me, Mr. Calamity Slayer." She didn't say it very loud, but Sorey still looked around to see if anyone heard that. Sorey agreed with Mikleo about keeping who he really was a secret.

"Good-bye Grace," Sorey said simply as he walked away without a second look back.

 _"So what's our plan now?"_ Mikleo asked. Both he and Rime were inside him. They were likely to run into members of the church in this port town. While they could easily tell if he had seraphim tethered to him, it wouldn't be as obvious if they were just out walking next to him.

"I'd like to go back to Bayheaven and apologize to Silas," Sorey said quietly.

" _He seemed pretty upset when we left_ ," Rime said. " _Are you sure that's a good idea right now? Maybe we should let him cool off for a bit."_

"I'm sure he would by the time we get there," Sorey told her.

" _It would take a couple of days by foot,"_ Mikleo thought out loud.

Sorey nodded and hoped that to bystanders it looked like he was just agreeing without himself. "Our supplies should be good," Sorey commented. Grace had insisted that he take some food and gels as payment for dispelling the barrier since he wouldn't let her take him any further on her ship to their destination.

He hadn't wanted anything from her. But she insisted saying it wouldn't look good for her as a businesswoman if he left without some kind of payment. He wasn't sure why a pirate was so concerned with keeping a deal. So he agreed to the supplies just so he could get off her ship faster.

" _Come on, let's explore the town a little bit,"_ Rime suddenly blurted out. " _We didn't get to see much of the last port town we were in. Sorey totally needs to explore since he's been asleep for so long."_

As much as Sorey would have liked to explore this new city and experience what a port town was really like, he wanted to put as much distance between him and Grace and their whole ordeal.

Mikleo may have sensed that, because he said, " _It sounds more like you're interested in exploring, Rime. But Sorey, you should probably consider resting. We could find an inn so you can get over being seasick."_

 _"_ Well looking around town for a little bit wouldn't hurt," Sorey said. He could hear Rime cheer at that. He had to admit it thought, he was a bit excited about the prospect of really exploring a port town.

He remembered his friends from long ago telling him how different port towns were. It would have been nice if they could have traveled to places like this. But this was no time to get down. He was traveling now and could see all kinds of things for them.

 _"Hey, hey, where are we going first?"_ Rime asked. She sounded like she was fighting the urge not to jump out and start exploring all by herself. Honestly Sorey would have liked to look more at the ships. But he didn't want to run into Grace or see the Van Eltia again.

"Maybe...we can find something to eat?" Sorey suggested. He was starting to feel more hungry as he walked on land. The combination of seasickness and being on a boat full of pirates hadn't given him much of an appetite.

" _Good call, you've barely eaten anything since we joined Grace,"_ Mikleo said. " _Then I think we should be on our way."_

Sorey nodded.

/~/~/

"So what sounds good to you all?" Sorey asked. He stepped into an alley so he could properly talk with them. He couldn't decide what to eat since he still didn't find food all that appetizing.

 _"Since we're at Arkala Harbor, you should sample some of the local delicacy,"_ Mikleo suggested. " _I've heard that the seafood bowl is excellent."_

 _"Is food really the only thing we're going to do in town?"_ Rime asked sounding a bit disappointed. No doubt she would have liked to explore. Sorey was glad she wasn't popping out and running off.

" _We need to get back to Bayheaven before Lailah and the others leave to go elsewhere,"_ Mikleo told her.

Sorey could feel that Rime was pouting over having to leave the city so soon. But he focused on trying to find something that smelled appetizing since he felt like he was swaying from the ship. He was letting his nose guide him.

Sorey finally settled on a small stall that was selling the seafood bowls that Mikleo had suggested. He ordered a simple one and waited for the older gentlemen to finish making food.

But it was right when he was being handed the bowl when someone suddenly grabbed his shoulder. "You there," a voice said, "are you part of the church?"

 _"Sorey, they're guards,"_ Mikleo informed him just as Sorey turned to look at two guards in knight armor. " _I'm not sensing any resonance. They may be asking for your help for what they think is a hellion,"_ he guessed.

It didn't sound too far-fetched. If that was the case, he did want to help. But he shouldn't be pretending to be a part of the church. "Sorry, I'm not," Sorey told them. "But I am hoping to," he then added to cover up for still wearing his Shepherd's cloak.

One of the knights held up a piece of paper for the two of them to see. Sorey gave them a curious look as he wondered what they were hoping would happen. But then one of them said, "Yeah, it looks like him."

The other one then said, "Young man, you're coming with us."

"O-okay," Sorey said sounding a little unsure. "What's this about?"

They then showed him the paper. It was a drawn picture of someone that looked just like Sorey. "We were told to be on the lookout for anyone that looks like this. And you do share a strong resemblance," the knight explained.

There were no doubts at all. That picture was Sorey. Sorey tried his best not to react too strongly. But he really didn't have a clue to what these knights wanted or why they would have a picture of his likeness. "Can I ask what this is about? Sorey asked.

"This individual is wanted for the attempted murder of Shepherd Silas and the theft of several Church artifacts," one of the guards told him.

The other one was quick to add, "Don't worry. We're just going to take you to one of the members of the church. The guy we're looking for has two seraphim with him. So the church member will just verify if you have them."

Sorey wasn't sure why they were treating him like he was really innocent. Of course Sorey was really wondering if that's how Silas so how their meeting went. Did he really think Sorey was trying to hurt him.

Before Sorey another moment to even consider something out, Rime jumped out right in front of him. She moved her hands upwards and that caused a great wind to come and knock both of the guards to the ground.

Mikleo appeared. "Rime, what did you do?" He demanded.

The wind seraph flinched. "Sorry, but the church would have known about us and taken Sorey. And there's no telling what they'd do to us. I panicked, okay."

"At least let it be a group decision," Mikleo said with a tired breath. Then he pushed Sorey to go. "Come on, we need to run. We've pretty much admitted our guilt."

Sorey looked back at the guards who looked like Rime had knocked them out. He gave a very small bow and quickly said, "I'm very sorry about this." Then he ran.

"We should get out of the city," Mikleo suggested. "If we can get to the forest, I'm sure we can hide better."

Sorey just nodded and followed Mikleo's lead. Rime stayed close behind. She was also still apologizing about causing this.

There must have been more guards nearby that heard the commotion, because Sorey could hear more shouting. Soon some appeared around from a building in front of them. This time Rime grabbed Sorey and jumped. She was using windstep with him and they had jumped over the guards. Once behind them, they started running again. "Careful, he's got the power of the seraphim," Sorey heard one of the guard's shout.

Sorey gritted his teeth, they just kept making this worse and worse. This time Mikleo took Sorey's hand and he led them down an alleyway. But there was no way out. "Don't worry, Sorey, I can get you to the roof," Rime said quickly and wrapped her arms around Sorey again.

But Mikleo quickly shushed them and pointed his staff toward their only ground exit. Water then appeared around them and capsuled them in a bubble.

Rime was just about to asked what was going on, but Sorey quickly covered her mouth. The guards were soon there and looked down the alley right at them. But they couldn't see Sorey. "I thought I saw him go down here," one of them shouted.

"Come on, he couldn't have gotten that far," another one shouted. The guards quickly disappeared as they went to look for Sorey elsewhere.

But they had been right in front of them, with just a shield of water reflecting the light to hide them. Sorey let out a breath in relief. If they stayed there long enough, then maybe they could wait for the commotion to calm down and get out of the city.

They all understood the unspoken plan, and stayed as still and quiet as possible. Sorey wasn't sure how long they had stayed there before the bubble was popped by a knife being thrown. It had been so fast that Sorey didn't have a chance to react as the knife caught him in the cheek.

"Cheap tricks won't work on me," a voice claimed.

The wind picked up briefly as a wind seraph appeared with a human dressed like they belonged to the church. The human held a few knives in-between his fingers in one hand like he was getting ready to throw more. "You have two seraphim tethered to you. It seems like you are the one that attacked Shepherd Silas" he went on to say.

"Look, this is all a misunderstanding," Sorey tried to reason. He couldn't believe how quickly the church had found him

"Save it," the church member interrupted. "It's surprising that you aren't a hellion after attempting to kill a Shepherd. But your deeds will spread far. And so will your defeat, you will fall at the hands of Squire-"

He didn't get to introduce himself because a familiar sounding shot was fired and hit the Squire's wind seraph. The seraph fell to the ground and the Squire didn't have a chance to even react a red headed woman dropped from the roof on top of him, knocking him out cold.

The woman stood up with a cocky grin. "I didn't think he would ever stop talking," she said.

"Grace," Sorey said in disbelief.

"Look, I know you wanted nothing to do with me," Grace started, "but I heard people talking about the pirates that attacked that Shepherd. I felt bad, so I came to help."

"Somehow I have a hard time believing that," Mikelo commented.

"Also, I get that it was bad that we broke into Bayheaven," Rime stated to say, "but why does that make us like enemy number one or something."

At that Grace just blinked at them. "Oh, did I forget to mention that anyone found in league with pirates are considered one and killed on spot if seen as hostile? There is a zero tolerance for piracy. Especially in Rolance," she told them. "When it concerns church matters, word can travel fast. Plus we didn't make enough distance from Bayheaven. So they could be here before you know it."

"What are you getting at Grace?" Sorey just went on to ask. He had a feeling that Grace was planning something.

"Look, your best bet is to let me get you out of Rolance," she said plainly. "With the church now after you, it's only a matter of time before they catch you. But if you're on my ship, you'll be safe. No one has beaten me out in the sea yet thanks to Aura's blessing."

"So Aura does have an impact," Mikleo commented.

"Short version, Aura can hide herself and anyone in her domain from being detected by other domains. I've yet to see anyone be able to beat her in hide and seek," Grace quickly summed up

Mikleo and Rime were looking to see what Sorey would decide. He couldn't go to the church. Not like this. If wanted to hide, being with Aura was their best shot.

He could hear more guards shouting. There wasn't much time to decide. "You'll really get us out of here?" Sorey asked.

"I'm a woman of my word," Grace said. "I told that Shepherd that you were an honorary member. So I'll treat you like one."

"I don't want to be a pirate," Sorey told her plainly. He didn't intend to be used by Grace again. But he was still curious about her. How was there no malevolence on her?

"Not saying you are," Grace told him. "Now come on." She motioned for them to follow her.

"Sorey, I would say we don't have to, but…" Mikleo started to say.

"It's not like we have much of a choice," Sorey muttered as he quickly followed Grace.

/~/~/

Somehow they managed to reach Grace's ship without any other incident. It was strange that the ship was able to leave harbor with hardly no really even saying a word to them. As soon as the ship was sailing off, Grace had a giant smile on her face. "Another great escape for Aifread's Pirates. All thanks to Aura."

The seraph was sitting up on the mast like when they first met her. She didn't come down to greet them or anything. In fact, she looked rather upset. Only Tokunaga welcomed Grace back on board.

Sorey wasn't really in the mood to talk any more with Grace. He had hope he wouldn't set foot on the pirate ship again. But here he was.

Then he felt someone slap his back. "Come on Sorey, you're killing the mood. Smile," Grace told him. "We just escaped from the city guard and even from the church's lackey. Grant it I think that guy was low ranking, but still."

"It's not that I don't appreciate your help," Sorey began. "But I don't want to be a pirate and be forced to do any more jobs for you."

Grace rolled her eyes. "Look, there's a motto with my crew," she said. "Carry only what you can."

"Because your thieves," Sorey said bitterly. Seemed like an appropriate code for pirates.

"Well yeah," Grace admitted. "But it means that no one would ever ask one another to do something they can't handle. I would never ask someone to kill or do anything they weren't comfortable with doing themselves."

"Because we have to carry any burdens ourselves," Tokunaga suddenly said.

"Carry only what you can," a couple of others shouted below on deck. They may have only heard part of the motto and just wanted to repeated themselves.

"So think whatever you want of me and pout as much as you like," Grace told him plainly. "I'm a lot of things, but you better know that I would never make you do something you didn't want to do. You choose to get on my ship twice now." Grace then started walking into her quarters.

"You tricked us, can you really say we had a chose?" Mikleo said angrily.

Grace stopped to turn around. She just looked annoyed at them. "You had the choose to refuse my offer and go off on your own. But here you are. And you can leave at any time. You're a water seraph after all."

Mikleo just glared at Grace. Then he looked back at Sorey like he was seeing what his decision would be. If Sorey wanted, he probably would attempt to get Sorey and Rime back to the mainland. It would be reckless with dangerous creatures in the sea and of course to make sure no human saw Sorey walking on water. That would no doubt attract a lot of attention.

Sorey just walked away to the side to prepare for the sea sickness that would be coming any moment.

/~/~/

 _"Wow, that had to have been so fun," Maotelus said with excitement in his voice._

 _Sorey couldn't help but laugh, both at the memory of one of his ruin excavation with Mikleo when they kept falling for traps and the fact that Maotelus, the great Lord of the Seraphim, was getting excited like a child. "Yeah, we definitely learned how to spot suspicious looking things that day," Sorey continued. After their introduction with each other, Maotelus wanted to know more about Sorey. So Sorey started telling him about the seraphim village he grew up in and of course his friends. Maotelus was surprisingly easy to talk to. They even had a very lengthy discussion about beetles._

 _"That's great that you have a friend who you can talk to about that kind of stuff," Maotelus replied warmly._

 _Sorey's heart began the throb. He wasn't sure how much time had passed outside. But he was starting to miss his friends. "Yeah, I hope they're all doing alright." He started to wonder how much time has past since he sealed himself away. It didn't seem like much time had gone. But who could say._


	6. Chapter 6: Proving Yourself

Read, review, enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Proving Yourself**

"Grace, you know I don't approve of this," Aura said as she suddenly appeared in Grace's room.

"Yeah, what's new?" Grace said as she was resting on her cot trying to get some rest. They would be arriving at the port city that was called Black Beach in a few hours, and Grace wanted to be fully rested when she confronted Velk about the information he gave her.

"Lying to that boy will have its consequences," Aura warned. "What'll happen when he finds out?"

"You're really that paranoid about that?" Grace said with a scoff. "I know he's strong enough to kill a dragon and calamity, but do you really think he would get violent with me just because I tricked him?" But a smile appeared on Graces face. The thought of fighting that kind of strength was filling her with excitement. A dragon slayer and a calamity slayer. Grace was almost willing to push Sorey's buttons to make him fight her. She wasn't sure what would make her more excited. Seeing Sorey's blood, or her own on his hands.

"Grace," Aura snapped sternly. It interrupted Grace's fantasy. And the seraph knew that. "Why must you insist on being so reckless?"

"I guess that's just who I am," Grace answered, now calmed down from feeling bloodlust for a good fight. She sat up from her cot and added, "I'm a double-edged sword after all." They both knew how Grace wanted to give up her captain's title. Someone would have kill her for it in a fight.

"You weren't always like this," Aura said with a sad tone.

Grace shot the seraph a cold look. "Is that what you want from me? You want me to be that pathetic little girl again who had to watch everything burn? Well I'm not her and don't intend to ever be her again." _I'd kill the younger me again if I had to. I will not be that weak again._

Aura didn't back down. She said very slowly, "Calm. Down." The seraph started counting backwards and Grace took a deep breath. "My blessing can only hide so much. But don't you see how having that boy is making you more unhinged. You don't lose control this often. At least not outside of a fight." The seraph said the last part under her breath.

"I'm always like this. You just worry too much. If you were human, you would have way more wrinkles and a poor heart from all the worry," Grace said bluntly as she felt her rage disappear.

"Given your unstable condition, I would advise you not to meet with Velk. No doubt you won't be able to hold back your temper," Aura told her, as she ignored Grace's comments.

Grace rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine, I'll leave Velk the way I find him. Promise," the pirate answered. She couldn't trust anyone else but herself to deal with getting a refund from the old lizard. But Aura didn't look convinced. Grace gave a big sigh. "Fine, what if I take Sorey?"

"Now how would that put my worries at ease?" Aura asked. "That would be like sleeping on a bed of daggers."

"Firstly, I do sleep with a few sharp objects in my bed," Grace said simply. "Secondly, I'd be willing to stay on my best behavior with him around."

"Your logic," Aura said with a sigh.

"I'm the captain, what I say goes," Grace said.

"Aye, aye," Aura said disheartedly.

/~/~/

The ship docked at Black Beach Harbor and Ben told him that it was called that because the sand was mostly soot. The port town was surrounded by a large mountain and apparently over a century ago the mountain erupted into a volcano and has been dormant ever since.  
As Sorey was wondering why anyone would choose to live here, Grace invited Sorey off the ship with her to conduct some business with her.

"Why would I want to?" Sorey asked.

"Because if you don't come with me, you'll have to stay on the ship," Grace answered simply. "You're a wanted man, I can't have you running around and causing no telling how many problems for me and my crew."

Sorey gritted his teeth. She really played dirty. She knew he would come because the alternative was staying on the ship and staying seasick.

Grace then tossed Sorey a brown cloak. "You'll want to change your mantle. There's no telling what kind of trouble you'll get in if people think you're part of the church."

He figured he probably shouldn't be wearing it anymore. Being with pirates, he was soiling the gift Alisha had given him. It was just like Silas said, he didn't deserve to wear it while with pirates. He removed the Shepherds mantal and replaced it with the brown cloak.

So that's how Sorey ended up with Grace walking around the port town. It was actually kind of a sketchy looking town. Somewhere a person could find pirates or outlaw. Everyone looked a bit rough and the people who were selling stuff probably didn't get it through legal channels. There also didn't appear to be any guards.

"Black Beach is a bit of an outlaw town," Grace explained. "It's tough to get here by land because of the mountain range, so sea is pretty much the only way to get here. Plus with all the soot, no one would want to willingly live here. Can't farm and it's not the cleanest place."

"Think of it a safe bay of thieves if you would," Aura explained.

Mikleo and Rime exited Sorey hearing that they wouldn't need to hide. "But hasn't the church attacked this place?" Rime asked.

"They've got bigger fish to fry, so to speak," Grace explained. "Surprisingly, this place doesn't generate that much malevolence. So it's low on the church's to do list. After all, this town doesn't generate wealth for them. So why should they help?"

"Although I'm sure that no one here would want the help," Mikleo commented.

Sorey couldn't feel malevolence like he could when he had been the Shepherd. Though he was sure if there was a lot he'd notice. "Is that true?" Sorey asked Mikleo.

"It would be risky for a seraph to enter without a vessel," Mikleo explained. "But yeah, for a city of thieves and pirates, the malevolence is tolerable."

"Looks like I'll finally get that malevolence tolerance training," Rime commented.

It was surprising to hear that. How was that possible? Sorey could feel there was no blessing in this town. There was probably no lord of the land that would risk giving its blessing to this area.

"So the person you're looking for is here," Sorey went on to ask.

"Velk is an information broker," Grace explained. "He rarely leaves the town."

"And why did you need to see him," Mikleo asked.

It became obvious that most of the people couldn't see the seraphim the way they gave Sorey and Grace curious looks. But two people talking to no one probably wasn't the strangest thing that happened in this town. Then again, if Grace was as famous as she said she was, then no one was liable to say she was crazy to her face. The one good thing was no one would report them to the church.

"He's the guy who told me a Divine Artifact was at Bayheaven. But he forgot to tell me that it belonged to a Shepherd. I'm just going to ask for a refund," Grace explained.

"You paid for information?" Rime asked.

"Of course," Grace said. "Information is extremely valuable for becoming one of the best pirates. I traded an extremely old tablet with ancient letters on it. I could have sold it for close to a million gald if I got it to the right buyer."

Sorey had to resist the urge not to say anything. He wanted to say that something like that needed to be in a museum or something, not in the black market. But that wasn't the hill he was willing fight Grace on.

"Ah, here were are," Grace announced as she stopped in front of a bar. "The Empty Tankard" was the name of the bar. "Aren't we too young to be going into a bar?" Sorey asked.

Grace rolled her eyes. "You're one to talk being over a hundred years old," she muttered. "Besides, it's not like we're here to drink. Velk holds his business out of this bar," Grace explained. She then strolled right on in with no hesitation with Aura right behind her.

Sorey grimiced a little, but he followed her in. It was probably better to stay with her rather than staying out on the streets on his own.

But the bar wasn't much better. It looked rather run down. The tables weren't clean and there was an awful smell. There were only a few people in the bar. One was passed out on the table and there were a couple that were playing a card game.

"Aifread, you here for Velk?" A tall man behind the bar asked. Sorey would say this, he had a very impressive beard.

"You better not be telling me he's elsewhere," Grace commented.

The bartender motioned with his head to the back door. "Just don't break anything this time," was all he said.

Grace tossed a small pouch to the man as she made her way to the door. "I make no promises I can't guarantee to keep," she told him plainly.

Sorey heard the man mutter something, but couldn't make it out. He followed Grace through the back were they entered a small room that looked like it served as both a bedroom and business office. There were so many crates and paperwork on a table. There was also plenty of booze that it created a stronger smell than the bar generated. Sorey, Rime, and Mikleo flinched at it. But Grace and Aura seemed used to it.

Someone was asleep in the bed. Sorey couldn't see the person's face because they must have fallen asleep as soon as they came here. He still had the hood of his cloak on.

"Something's off about this man," Mikleo whispered.

Sorey nodded. Though he couldn't feel the same thing as his seraphim friends anymore, he could feel the hair on his neck stand. It was definitely familiar.

Grace didn't care at all for the man still sleeping. She wasted no time and kicked at his bed. "Up you scaly piece of shit," she said in a raised voice.

That was enough to wake the man with a jolt. He saw that it was Grace and he just narrowed his eyes at her. But Sorey and his two friends were to occupied reacting to the man's appearance. He was a red reptile man.

"A hellion," Sorey stated in a startled tone. He wanted to grab Grace and Aura and run.

But he was startled more when he saw the hellion sit on the edge of his bed and said, "You just had to bring your little fire starter, huh? The dreaded pirate Aifread needs help with negotiating?"

"Trust me Velk, I'm not here to help her," Aura said sternly.

Velk was a hellion and they were acting like it wasn't that big a deal. Mikleo was the one to voice it. "Aura, he's a hellion. What are we going to do if he starts emitting malevolence?"

"If a hellion has maintained their will, they won't actively emit malevolence like monsters do," Aura told them. "Velk is a lot of things, but being dangerous isn't one of them. You only have worry about the kind of deals you make with him."

"Is this the boy's first time making a business deal with a hellion," Velk joked. It was so bizarre to Sorey to be talking with a hellion like he would anyone else. "You really know how to pick them, captain," Velk commented lightly with Grace. Other than his appearance, Velk seemed so very human. It was just like he said they were.

But Grace was in no joking mood. She grabbed the hellion by the collar and threw him to the ground. It startled Sorey, but he stayed still because of Grace. "I'd rather talk about that information I paid you for last time I was here," Grace said with a dark look in her face.

Velk started to push himself up. "Look I'm not the only information broker in the world, believe it or not. If someone got it ahead of you, they got that information from someone else. After what you gave me, I wouldn't have sold it anyone else."

Grace then kicked Velk in the face. It was so hard that Sorey heard something crack and flinched. If Velk had been human, he probably would have been dead. Grace placed her boot on Velk's face. Sorey wanted to help Velk. He took a step forward, but Aura put her arm in front of him.

"You seemed to have forgot to mention that the divine artifact belonged to a Shepherd," she told him.

"I thought that would have been common sense," Velk muttered from under the boot.

That only threw fuel at Grace's anger and she seemed determined to stomp his skull in. Then-

"Captain," Aura said sternly, "he's more useful alive, not under you boot."

Grace rolled her eyes, but she did take a step away from Velk.

The hellion sat up and rubbed his face from where Grace kicked him. "Divine Artifacts aren't just lying around," Velk muttered. "The best way to make sure you get the real deal is from the Shepherds. They wouldn't give those copy shit to them."

"Don't care, I just want a refund," Grace said as she leaned against the wall.

"I already sold that tablet you traded, and before you ask, no I don't have anything else of value to give you," Velk told her.

"Well I'm not leaving without something," Grace said sternly. Then added, "And a promise that I'll be the first one you tell about another divine artifact isn't going to cut it."

Velk walked over to his table to look for something. "Well, to stay on your good side, you will be the first I tell about."

"And?" Grace asked.

Velk was shifting through the the mess of papers and picked up a small scrap. "Here is something that might get you out of here. It's just a bunch of hearsay, but there are plenty of people who have accounted the same thing happening that I'd make a high bet on it."

"I'm all ears," Grace commented as she leaned against the wall.

"People have been wanting to make a more friendly, and secret, road through the mountains here so we have an easier time with the black market," Velk started to explain. "But there have been complications. People can't get far up it before strange things happen."

"So when is going to get interesting for me?" Grace asked sounding board.

"The part where I tell you paths suddenly collapse and rearrange," Velk answered.

"Are you seriously suspecting that it could be an earth seraph?" Aura asked.

"Earth seraph?" Grace repeated with her interests raised.

"Why would an earth prevent people from going up the mountain?" Sorey asked.

"With this town full of thieves, I'd imagine they would want to keep the mountain free of malevolence," Mikleo guessed.

"Listen seraph," Velk said as he crossed his arms. "I get that by nature we're dangerous to one another, but it's not like that many of us produce that much malevolence. We can't afford to make much of a splash since anymore would draw the church here."

Sorey supposed that it would make sense in a messed up way.

"And you really think it's an earth seraph?" Grace asked.

"What else could it be?" Velk replied. "People say the earth shifts without so much as a rumble. Sounds like magic to me."

"Fine, I'll take this as a refund," Grace said with a smile.

"Why would you be interested in a seraph?" Mikleo asked.

"Because it would be really cool to be the first pirate to have a crew with all the elemental seraphim," Grace answers. "Why wouldn't I want that?"

"Just for clarification, Rime and I aren't part of your crew," Mikleo stated.

"Yeah, yeah," Grace just waved off.

"Speaking of the wind seraph," Aura suddenly interrupted. "I don't think the wind seraph is looking good."

That caught the rest of their attention and it all changed to Rime. Indeed she didn't. She looked very green, more than normal. She was slightly hunched over and looking tired.

"Rime, are you okay?" Sorey asked as he reached her side. He was worried that she might collapse or something.

"It's the heat, you know," she said sounding short of breath. "I guess it just got to me."

"It's not that hot here," Velk commented. He was right. It felt perfectly fine in here.

"This would be the most malevolence Rime has been exposed to," Mikleo said to Sorey.

Sorey was pretty sure that Rime wouldn't change or anything as long as he stayed her vessel. But with zero malevolence tolerance, it would cause her a lot of discomfort.

"Wind seraph, you better get back inside your vessel," Aura instructed.

"'Kay," Rime just muttered and quickly disappeared to dwell inside of Sorey. He suddenly felt the same sensation Rime must have been.

The inside of his chest felt warm. Mikleo must have noticed Sorey's discomfort because he suddenly said, "We should probably get away from all this malevolence so Rime can rest."

"Outside of the town should be fine," Aura offered.

"Head to the base of the mountain," Grace instructed. "We'll be making a climb to see if there's really an earth seraph up there. Aura and I will be there shortly, we have a few more errands to run."

"Really Grace, why do you want to find this seraph?" Sorey asked plainly.

Grace shrugged. "I told you, I want a crew of seraphim," she said. Then she smirked at him as he gave her a skeptical look. "Come on, don't tell me you're not curious to hear why a seraph is keeping people from crossing the mountain?"

"That's not what I'm getting at," Sorey said. "What are you scheming?"

"Look, if these rumors get out, the church will come here and not only would it be bad for this town, but that seraph will be captured and forced to serve the church," Grace answered.

"I'm in no way defending the church, but they would never force seraphim into servitude," Mikleo quickly pointed out.

"They don't really take no well," Aura argued.

Sorey shook his head. "I'm getting Rime out of this town," he said plainly as he started walking out of the room. If he gets away from Grace, maybe he can think more about this.

/~/~/

Velk started to chuckle. "I like him, he catches on quick to you," the lizard hellion said with devious smile.

"Shut it," Grace warned. "Just because I haven't cut business with you doesn't mean you're off the shit list. That'll depend on how this pans out and how quickly you can find another Divine Artifact."

"Just making conversation," Velk said. "So did you have any other business? I can't imagine you'd let that boy out of your sight. You'd steal him from the church or something?"

"Why does everyone assume I kidnapped him?" Grace asked.

"Come, it's rare to find anyone these days with response that high who isn't already taken by the church. I have a lot of guys who'd pay a lot for someone like him."

"Lucky find," Aura said with disdain.

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you if you had any more leads on that item I asked you about," Grace started.

/~/~/

"How are you feeling Rime?" Sorey asked once they were outside of the port town. Not far was a path that lead up to the mountain that loomed over them.

"Yeah, it's a lot easier to breath now," Rime answered.

"Looks like we're going to have to be mindful if we go into a place with a lot of malevolence," Mikleo warned. "So Rime, if you start feeling weird like that again you need to tell us."

Rime let out a sigh. "Okay," she said with a sad look. She must have realized that she may yet again be limited to where she went.

"I'm sure you'll get better with it," Sorey offered.

"I know I haven't been that useful. Just...don't leave me behind," she said in a sad tone. "I don't want to be left alone."

Sorey wondered where this was coming from. "We're a team," Sorey told her. "I don't intend to leave anyone behind."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Mikleo told her. "This is your first journey, think of it as a way to better yourself. Plus it's not like we'd just abandon you."

Sorey nodded. "That's right, I think all of us are still learning."

A small smile spread on her face. "Thanks, I don't know where that came from," she said. "You know, I lived in some ruins and I was all alone. I was fine. But after being taken in by Shaun, I don't want to go back to living like that."

"Our journey's not even close to being over," Sorey said trying to stay positive despite traveling with pirates. "If there's a place we can't go, then we'll just fine another way around."

"That certainly sounds like something Sorey would say," a new voice suddenly said. It was a familiar, but it still made Sorey jump.

When he turned, he saw a male wind seraph standing before them. He had long silver hair with green tips in a very loose and messy bun. The seraph still didn't wear a shirt, but there was a strap over his chest with all kinds of odd things attached to it. At his hip was a familiar looking top hat that was really worn down.

"Zaveid," Mikleo called out. "What are the chances we'd meet up out here?"

The wind seraph had hardly changed in all these years. But it was still hard to believe he was seeing him again.

"Can't chalk it all up to chance, I was tracking you down and following you," Zaveid told them plainly.

"Following us? Why didn't you just say hi like a normal person?" Sorey asked in a joking way.

"Don't blame me, I had to make sure you were the real Sorey," Zaveid said as he had a dangerous smile. The one he wore when they first met. Zaveid moved his arm up to cause the pendulum in his hand to swing upwards, creating a strong wind that could have knocked all of them over.

"Zaveid," Sorey said as he had closed his eyes from the wind, "I'm not going to fight you."

"No need to," Zaveid said. Sorey opened his eyes and saw that the wind seraph was right in front of him right then. Then Zaveid lightly punched Sorey in the shoulder. "It really is you," Zaveid said with a genuine smile.

Sorey smiled back. "Yeah, it's good to see you again Zaveid."

"So what was all that about?" Mikleo asked.

"Relax Mikey," Zaveid said with a teasing smile toward the water seraph. "Edna contacted me about Sorey showing up. She's worried that he might just be some illusion you fell for."

Mikleo actually went red in the face. "I wouldn't have fallen for a trick like that," Mikleo argued.

"Well I wanted to see for myself anyway," Zaveid said as he looked back at Sorey. "I'm glad to see you out and about."

Sorey was then reminded of an item in his bag. "That's right," Sorey muttered as he began to dig in his bag. He quickly found Siegfried. He then handed it back to a surprised looking Zaveid. "I almost forgot I had it," Sorey explained. "Sorry it took over six hundred years to return it."

"You really made sure you held on to it, huh?" Zaveid said more to himself.

"Well you did only let me borrow it," Sorey said. "Besides, I don't need it anymore."

"Thanks, this thing is a good reminder for me," Zaveid said softly as he placed it in a holster on a belt across his chest. To change the mood, Zaveid looked to Rime. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your little friend here?" He asked.

"This is Rime," Sorey introduced. "I met her shortly after I woke up."

"And this is the guy you traveled with before, right?" Rime asked.

Sorey nodded.

"Man, you're a pretty young seraph," Zaveid commented.

Rime actually looked like she was thinking about that. "I guess that's true. I don't think I'm even a hundred years old. I've never really thought about my age before." It was comical to think that just less than a hundred was considered young among seraphim.

Before Sorey had a chance to ask Zaveid his next question, Rime quickly chimed in. "By the way, that wasn't normal wind you blew at us, was it?" Rime asked.

"Very astute of you to notice," Zaveid said with a cocky grin. "It's just a little trick I picked up. If you have the wind just right, then it can blow away any illusion or trickery."

"The wind can do that?" Rime exclaimed.

"Well sure," Zaveid said looking a little started at Rime's bluntness. "You just got to be creative with the wind. Man you really are young if you don't even know that about the wind."

"Be creative," Rime repeated in a murmur to herself.

"So I'm guessing your heading up to the top?" Zaveid asked as he seemed to be trying to change the subject back to Sorey.

"Yeah we heard about a seraph keeping people from crossing," Mikleo answered.

"I at least want to know the reason for the seraph preventing people's passage,"

"No kidding, I was actually going to do the same thing," Zaveid laughed. "I wanted to see if the seraph knew he was starting to draw attention to himself and was prepared to meet with the church."

"Do you know them?" Sorey asked.

"Nope," Zaveid said bluntly. "I figured they must have been a young seraph since seraphim now a days don't typically show off their powers if they don't want to join the church. So I thought I'd figure out what they were doing. But it looks like you've got this under control."

"Wait, your not going to come with us?" Sorey asked.

"Looks like you're already part of a group," Zaveid said. The wind seraph looked over his shoulder and commented, "Plus it looks like someone isn't thrilled with the idea of me coming."

It wasn't long before Grace suddenly walked from around some large rocks with Aura close behind her. She had a rather passive expression that Sorey couldn't tell what the pirate was planning. "You sure do know a lot of people for a guy who's been asleep for over six hundred years," Grace commented.

Ignoring Grace's commented, Zaveid said, "You've really expand your horizon. Traveling with a famous pirate. I can see why Edna wanted me to make sure you were really you. Aifread right?"

"If you know who she is, then you should know that it should be Captain Aifread," Aura corrected. "Not adding the title undermines the renown."

"Damn Aura, I hardly recognized you," Zaveid exclaimed. "You used to be the looker back in the day. What happened?"

Without any hesitation, Aura said, "I matured, it seems you are still aloof as you always were." She had eyes narrowed at him.

Sorey supposed it should have figured that Zaveid would know Aura. It sort of looked like the two of them hadn't left on good terms the way the air was tense between the two seraphim.

"Well you never struck me as the kind of person to who'd like hanging with lawless individuals," Zaveid said. "Although the wandering the seas seems to be right up your alley."

"It's still hard for me to believe that you were once a sub lord," Aura said with much disdain in her voice.

"Just as cold as ever," Zaveid muttered. Then he started to to walk away. "It was good seeing you again Sorey."

"Your really going to leave?" Sorey asked. He felt very disappointed that Zaveid wasn't going to join them.

"Get back in touch with me in a few years," Zaveid said as he waved without looking back. "We'll get a drink together or something."

Sorey just watched as his old companion walked off. He wasn't sure what he was expecting when he came back. Had he really been expecting things to have been the same?

Grace then just shrugged, "Whatever, let's just go find that earth seraph.

/~/~/

Skit: Aura's Type

 **Grace** : I'm really surprised Aura. I thought for sure that you'd want that wind guy to join us. He seems like your type.

 **Aura** : Oh please, my tastes are more refined than that. Ignoring Zaveid's personality, any man who dresses half naked like that isn't worth it. They leave nothing to the imagination and it just shows how full of themselves they are.

 **Grace** : Huh, I guess that explains why you never had me order the crew men to change dress code.

 **Aura** : I would never think to compromise the crew to have them

 **Grace** : So I'm right, muscular men are your type.

 **Aura** : I'm not attracted to human men, they are simply pleasing to the eye.

 **Grace** : So seraphim men are more your type? Maybe we'll get lucky with this earth seraph then.

 **Aura** : What are you doing? Playing matchmaker or something?

 **Grace** : Well I need something to help distract you from my business.

 _/~/~/_

 _"Sorey, didn't you have any hopes and dreams?" Maotelus suddenly asked._

 _"Well of course, doesn't everybody?" Sorey answered._

 _Maotelus was silent for a moment. Sorey had spent enough time with Maotelus to be able to read him a little. It was still a bit difficult since he was mostly transparent, but other than that, the great lord was easy to read. Sorey could tell he was feeling guilty._

 _"Were your hopes and dreams not important to you?" Maotelus asked._

 _Sorey was slightly surprised by that question. He scratched the side of his head. "Of course it is. Why are you asking that?"_

 _"If it was that important to you, then why would you seal yourself away with me when there's no guarantee you'll even wake up or live?"_

 _Now Sorey understood where the seraphim was coming from. But Sorey smiled at him. "My dream is to see a world where all humans can see the seraphim and that they can co-exist peacefully. But that dream isn't just mine, my friends share it too. So I know it'll still live on after I'm long gone." Then Sorey let out a small chuckle. "Plus, we can't really have that world if the land is corrupt, right?"_

 _"That's a very idealistic world that doesn't sound very plausible," Maotelus said. "But it's a nice dream to have. The world would be different if just more people had the same ideology."_

 _It surprised Sorey to hear Maotelus be pessimistic about it. But given that he was corrupted by humans, it was to be expected._

 _But then the great lord startled Sorey when he suddenly asked. "But where would hellions fit into this world of yours?"_


	7. Chapter 7: Earth Seraph

Read, review, enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 7: The Earth Seraph**

Sorey never gave much thought to his physical ability before. But now hiking up this mountain made him realize how out of shape he was. It also made him wonder if he even could have made it before he had gone to sleep for hundreds of years. This mountain was not use to travelers the way Rayfalke Spiritcrest was. They had to do a lot of rock climbing.

Everyone was about out of breath, everyone except Rime of course. She was practically skipping up the mountain. "Don't tell me you guys we're, like, halfway up. You can't be out of breath now," she said.

"Not everyone trains like you," Mikleo said in between breaths.

"Geez, I'll take on any sea storm than climb another mountain like this again," Grace complained. She was probably in the worse shape. Her hair was more of a mess then it was already was and she looked like she was burning up in her jacket, but she wouldn't take it off.

"I'm starting to have my doubts that there is really a seraphim keeping humans off this mountain," Aura complained. "I have doubt that mere humans could make this trek, much less making a usable path to transport goods."

"If this isn't, I'm killing Velk for this," Grace said in between heavy breaths.

To keep things at peace, Sorey said, "I could see humans with no resonance just chalking up to mystic dealings. But Zaveid wouldn't have come all the way out here if it wasn't a seraphim."

"It better be," Grace complained.

"There isn't any malevolence up here," Mikleo commented. "So it's certainly possible that a seraphim is up here keeping it that way."

"There is no lord of the land," Aura pointed out. "But now that I'm closer, I can tell there is an earthpulse at the peak of this mountain."

"That might explain why a seraphim is trying to keep humans away," Sorey offered.

"Maybe that's why Zaveid came here to worn the seraph," Mikleo speculated. "The Church already control's many earthpulse points, so that's not really an issue. But Zaveid probably just wanted to let the seraph know that they're indirectly bringing the Church here."

"Maybe that's their plan," Grace suggested. "They've lad a trap for the Church. A mountain would give them a home turf advantage. That'd be my plan."

"Captain, you should hope that isn't the case," Aura told Grace.

"Well there is only one way to find out," Sorey said. They could speculate all they want, but that wouldn't give them the answer.

"Umm…," Rime started to say. Sorey had glanced over at the wind seraph and was a bit surprised with how quiet she had been. Then she looked a bit embarrassed. "So, like...what's an earthpulse point?"

Aura gave an annoyed breath. "This is what's wrong with these younger seraphim," she complained. "Not knowing the basics of the world."

"Are you really going to say "back in my day"?" Grace asked. "Look, you told me about these earthpulse things, and I barely get why the Church would want them. Rime's a sheltered little seraph, so go easy on her."

"Aye Captain," Aura said more as a order rather than really wanting to give Rime a break.

Sorey looked at Grace. She was so confusing. One minute she's a minupative pirate, but then she'll do something nice like this. Maybe Grace was like Rose, having a good heart but was just in bad profession.

Before Sorey could speculate further, he heard something shifting. Not far, he could hear earth moving. Because of this time traveling with Edna, he could tell that it was seraphic artes moving some of the earth rather than it just being a natural occurrence.

"Guys," Sorey said and motioned for them to be still. They soon all heard the same thing as him.

A smile crept on Grace's face. "About time, Hopefully we won't have to go any higher." She got a whole new burst of energy and quickly started going toward the source.

"Hold on," Sorey called. They had no idea what this seraph was like. If it was protecting something, they might be defensive.

Though he was tired, Sorey did everything to try and keep up with Grace.

When he caught up with her, he saw her crouched down behind a rock. Aura had grabbed Sorey's collar and pulled him down to hiding.

"The seraph is just kid," Mikleo whispered.

Sorey peered around the rock. There was a small boy that looked no more than seven with his back to them. But he was seraph since they were wearing traditional earth seraphim robes. The child had blonde hair that reached down to his chin. More importantly, he was moving some rocks around. He must be training.

"He's very young," Aura said. "I doubt he's been around for more than a few decades."

Grace just shrugged. "Beggars can't be choosers." The pirate captain suddenly got up from their hiding spot. "Hey kid," Grace just carelessly called out.

Everyone flinched. Even though he was a kid, it was still an earth seraph. Only Aura followed Grace's lead.

The earth seraph had spun around. He looked scared when he saw Grace and the rocks that had been floating suddenly dropped. The kid then ran behind one of the rocks.

"This is the seraphim that's been keeping people from the mountain?" Grace said in disbelief.

She was taking steps toward the child's hiding spot, but Sorey and the others came out. "Grace, you're scaring him," Mikleo called out.

"Fine, you get him," Grace said.

Sorey didn't like the way she said that. But he didn't want to leave the seraphim scared. He walked closer to the rock the child was hiding behind, but he kept plenty of distance incase he decided to attack. "Hey, we just want to talk," Sorey said gently.

"You can tell, can't you," Mikleo started to say getting a little closer to the rock and kneeling. "I'm a seraphim too, same as Aura and Rime. My name's Mikleo. And the two humans are Sorey and Grace."

Very slowly, the child peaked around. Now that Sorey was closer, he could see that the kid was fearful. But he had such sharp brown eyes for being so young. "M...My n...name is Ari," the kids stuttered.

Sorey knelt next to Mikleo. "Ari, that's a nice name," Sorey said with a smile. "Did you give yourself that name?"

Ari seemed to have to think. "I just...knew that was my name," he answered. He very slowly started to walk out from behind the rock.

"So what's with you attacking people?" Rime asked bluntly.

"Are you protecting the earthpulse point?" Aura went on to ask.

"Protecting the earthpulse?" Ari repeated sounding very confused.

"You don't know what it is," Grace said out loud.

"Then what's with you attack people coming up the mountain? You know you've been attracting a lot of attention to earth dwellers."

Ari held his hands together as he look sheepish. "I-I don't mean to. When I see them, they startle me and…" Ari didn't finish his sentence. He just looked down at the ground.

Aura came closer then. "You can't control your powers," she said.

Ari just nodded. "When I get scared, the earth just moves. And that scares people away."

"Have you been on the mountain all by yourself?" Rime asked.

"Yeah. I was just here. You all are the first people I've really talked to."

"You must have been born from the earthpulse point from this mountain," Aura speculated.

"But if you're not keeping people from climbing the mountain, what are you still doing here?" Sorey asked.

"I don't know," Ari said sheepishly. "What else am I supposed to do?"

"You could leave and see the world," Grace said. She started coming closer. "I have a ship, so we'll be able to see all kinds of things."

Sorey didn't really like that Grace was trying to bribe Ari to joining a pirate crew. Mikleo, who must have known what Sorey was thinking, said, "I'd rather he come with us rather than just waiting for the Church to get him."

At that, Sorey would have to agree. Ari was young and impressionable. Plus since he couldn't control his powers, there could be no telling what would happen to him.

"Leave the mountain? Ari said sounding very unsure.

"I know it might seem scary leaving," Mikleo started to say, "but I don't think you should stay here. You've been attracting a lot of attention."

He still looked unsure. That was when Rime spoke up. "Do you want to stay here all alone?"

There was a pause. Ari looked at them and just simply said, "No."

Rime had a smile. "Then come with us and you won't have to be anymore."

"Welcome to the crew," Grace said. She then looked at Sorey. "Sorey, become this kids vessel so we can get out of here."

"Vessel?" Ari asked. It looked like there was a lot that Ari didn't know. Sorey supposed it was a good thing he never left the mountain.

"Since your a seraphim it's best to travel with a vessel," Mikleo explained. "It helps keep us safe. Rime and I use Sorey as our vessel."

"Yeah, Sorey's the best vessel I've ever used," Rime joked.

"Thanks for treating me like an object," Sorey said lightly.

"So what do I need to do to make you my vessel?" Ari asked.

"Do you know your true name?" Sorey asked.

Ari nodded. "Fumew Fortem," he gave.

Sorey smiled. "That's a nice name," he told him. _Ari the Redeemer_ it meant.

/~/~/

 **Skit: Control**

 **Ari** : Ms. Aura…

 **Aura** : Just call me Aura. No need for formalities.

 **Ari** : O-okay. Um...I was wanting to ask what I could do to control my powers better. You and the others make it look so easy.

 **Aura** : Part of that is having a medium to help us control the elements. When I first began, I used paper slips to gain better control over fire. Mikleo uses staffs and Rime uses those gloves. When we get back into town, we'll find something that you can use. That will greatly improve your control.

 **Ari** : And you now you use swords. Was that to make you stronger?

 **Aura** : I have found that once you master one fighting style you should move on to a new one. It helps keep the mind healthy and you will always improve. I had used paper slips once, then I used fans, I once even picked up a scythe. Now I use swords.

 **Ari** : Wow. How will I know what kind of medium to use?

 **Aura** : You're focus should be on mastering seraphic artes. So anything that will help in casting long range.

 **Ari** :...

 **Aura** : Don't worry, I shall help you pick a good fit for you.

 **Ari** : Thank you Aura.

 **Rime** runs in: Hey, how come you're nice to him when he has a question, but you criticize me?

 **Aura** : You lived with other seraphim. It's clear he hasn't. Thus you've had more opportunity to learn.

 **Rime** looking depressed.

/~/~/

They returned to Black Beach with Ari. It was a little rough since anytime Ari was startled he caused some of the earth shift. Sorey almost fell in those instances.

"Getting him a medium for his powers should be the first thing we get when we get back to town," Mikleo said.

"We also need to get him a change of clothes," Grace said casually.

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Ari asked.

"Come on, you look like you belong to the Church," Grace complained. "If you're going to sail with me, I don't want people seeing me in association."

"But you and Sorey are the only ones that can see us," Rime pointed out.

"Details," Grace snapped. "It's the principle of the matter."

"What's the Church?" Ari then asked.

There really was a lot of stuff they were going to have to go over with him.

"Basically the Church is the bad guys," Grace said bluntly.

"They're not that bad," Mikleo rebuked. "They might just be a little misguided, that's all."

That made Sorey think. He still didn't know much about the Church. He went on this journey to figure them out. Instead, he managed to become a criminal. Once he was out of Rolance, he could resume that original plan.

"Sorey?" Ari's voice said with concern.

Sorey just gave the seraph child a smile. "Everything's fine, you'll get to travel and decide things for yourself," he told him.

"Speaking of," Rime chimed in. "Look Ari, this will be your first time seeing a human town, right?"

They were just a little ways from the town and they could see some people. Ari looked up and just seemed to notice. When he saw the people, Ari hid behind Sorey and gripped his cloak. "Th-there are so many people," Ari muttered.

"Don't worry, a lot of humans can't see us," Mikleo told him.

"But Sorey and Ms. Grace can see us," Ari said.

"I'd prefer to be called Captain Grace," Grace complained lightly.

"The two of us have high enough resonance," Sorey told him.

"So how do you know if a human can see you?" Ari asked.

"I can teach you if you really want to know," Mikleo said. "But a lot of seraphim don't really care to know what humans can and can't see them."

Ari didn't really move. "If you're that worried, you can just dwell inside," Sorey offered. "You'll still get to see the town that way and not worry about anyone seeing you." Although he really wished it was in a better town or city than Black Beach. Hopefully this wouldn't scare him away from going near a human town.

The little seraph came from behind Sorey, but he did grab Sorey's wrist. There was a scared, but determined look to him. "It'll be okay," Sorey reassured.

Ari just nodded as they started walking into the city.

The seraph did well in his first town. But Sorey could feel Ari flinch beside him as they walked next to other people. Thankfully no earth suddenly moved.

Grace first led them to a smith to find Ari a medium. She looked like a kid in a candy shop the way she grinned. The smith walked over to Grace. "Captain Aifread, are you in need of more weapons for your crew?" The smith asked. "You know I'm always happy to provide the Aifread with as much steel as needed."

Sorey realized then that the smith looked slightly scared of Grace. "Grace _persuaded_ this blacksmith to give her weapons at a very cheap cost," Aura explained.

While Sorey should have been slightly horrified that persuaded probably meant something like threaten, he was actually a little bit impressed. The blacksmith was a broad man. One that didn't look like he gave discounts easily. So for Grace to get one, either way she got it, was a little impressive.

"I'm just looking for a weapon for a kid," Grace said. "Got any good recommendations?"

The blacksmith may have really trying to get on Grace's good side, because Sorey could only guess that was the reason for what he said next. "Well let me offer my congratulations Captain. Starting a family is a joyous occasion."

The way he looked at Sorey made him realize what the man was insinuating and Sorey found himself blush. In what way did he and Grace look like a couple?

Grace just looked annoyed at the man. "Quit talking like that and I'll forgive that insult," she said. _Insult?_ Now it was Sorey's turn to feel annoyed. "I don't need rumors starting that I with a choir boy," Grace went on to say.

"Oh, I'm very sorry," the blacksmith was quick to say. "I've just never seen you with one other person."

"He really can't see us?" Ari asked.

"Yep, he only sees Sorey and Grace," Mikleo explained. Ari seemed to relax a little and even let go of Sorey's wrist.

"How big is the child?" The blacksmith asked.

Grace looked over at Ari. "He'd be about this tall," Grace said measuring up to her waist.

"Isn't that a bit young to be having a dangerous weapon?" The smith commented. "The only thing I could really recommend are daggers. Anything else would be to big."

He motioned them toward a case with daggers. They were well crafted. Sorey thought about Rose seeing them. She probably would have been excited to see such designs.

Grace picked one up. "What do you think?" She asked.

"These wouldn't be good for him to help control earth mana," Aura suggested. "None of these even have a high enough affinity with the elements."

"Plus a weapons this dangerous aren't really fitting for a seraphim," Sorey told her.

"But Aura uses a sword," Grace rebuked.

"And as you've pointed out it's a fencing sword, not good for actual sword combat," Aura went on to explain,

"Good point," Grace muttered.

"You wouldn't have anything that would be good for a seraphim, would you?" Sorey asked. Then he saw how confused the blacksmith was. He was only hearing half of the conversation.

"Well...I'm not sure what seraphim weapons are like," the blacksmith admitted.

 _Most of them might not really be considered weapons,_ Sorey thought.

"What did you find Ari?" Sorey then heard Rime ask.

He looked over and saw that Ari was with Mikleo and Rime looking into a box. It looked like it it was a box of junk the blacksmith was going to throw away. Ari was on his knees when he reached in and picked up an old looking kendama. He picked it up and there was a small light that came off the toy.

"Looks like it already has an earth affinity," Mikleo commented.

"Strange for a toy to have that much mana," Aura said. "Other seraphim must have played with it for it to gain that affinity."

"Sounds like we've found him a medium," Rime commented.

"Really, a toy," Grace complained. "It's not really that intimidating."

"As long as it works," Sorey said.

"Fine," Grace said. She looked back at the blacksmith who still looked confused by their conversation. "Can we take this toy?"

"Sure...I guess. I was going to toss it," he answered still very confused.

/~/~/

Silas stood in front of the grand doors that led to the Pope's private sanctuary. He should be done with his afternoon prayers, but Silas still felt like he would intrude if he went in now.

 _"Just go in dummy,"_ Lady Edna scolded. Both she and Lady Lailah were residing in him for the moment. Lady Edna didn't like walking around the church because a few of the other seraphim would tell her wasn't in the proper attire.

Silas was startled by Lady Edna and jumped a little. But he took a deep breath to steel himself before he went to open the door. He needed to talk with the Pope.

"If it isn't the illustrious Shepherd Silas," a new voice said that made Silas jump again. He looked over to see a young man that he failed to notice walk down the hall behind him. "How lucky of me to run into a Shepherd."

"Squire Faust," Silas said as he composed himself and quickly gave a small bow to him. He felt very uncomfortable when he was around Faust. Especially with the false praise he gave him.

 _"At least you're not as dumb as you look to know he's mocking you,"_ Lady Edna commented.

Silas inwardly groaned. _Lady Edna…_

"My, Shepherd Silas, someone of your status shouldn't prostrate yourself for a lowly squire like me," Faust said with his normal creepy smile and completely false tone. Faust was two years younger than Silas. But his hair was completely white and completely wavy. He was also pretty tall and lanky, but you couldn't tell that when he wore his church robes.

The two of them had been in the same order when they were training to become Shepherds. Faust was talented enough that he was able to use seraphic artes with a seraph tethered to him. That fact alone made a bunch of the orderlies believe that Faust would be the next Shepherd for Lailah. But Silas had been the one chosen instead.

The two of them had never been friends. But Silas was pretty sure there was a bit of spite any time he talked with Faust. It was bad, but Silas didn't want to trust Faust. He was clearly a textbook example of wolf in sheep's clothing.

 _"Remember Silas, he doesn't have any malevance on him and neither do the seraphim tethered to him,"_ Lady Lailah told him.

Silas knew he shouldn't think that of a colleague like that. They were all here for the same reason.

 _"Doesn't help the fact he's a creepy kid,"_ Lady Edna commented. To which Lady Lailah was silent on.

"It's just a title, I don't really think of us as being very different," Silas told him as he kept his civil and professional tone.

Still with that creepy smile, Faust went on to say, "That's where you're wrong. We're as different as possible. You're the Shepherd, your job is to save people and bestow blessings. I on the other hand am only called when the damned need punishing, or, my area of expertise, information gathering."

"Both equally important jobs to the Church," Silas told him. The Church wouldn't be what it was if it wasn't for the large number of squires and orderlies.

As if ignoring him, Faust just said, "Oh my, Lady Lailah, I hope you're not avoiding me. Surely you wouldn't think I was mad about you not picking me to be the next Shepherd. Such jealousy and anger doesn't belong in the Church."

 _Just ignore me then…_ Silas thought bitterly.

Lady Lailah appeared next to Silas and kept her face as passive as possible. "You boys seemed to be catching up, I didn't want to interrupt," she said.

"I would have never thought that," Faust said. "It's just an honor for a lowly squire like me to be in the presences of a Prime Lord with the power of purification."

Lailah was always uncomfortable around Faust just like Silas. But at least when he was talking with Lailah he seemed sincere. It was hard to figure out Faust. His purity and resonance wasn't in question, which made his attitude very confusing. He seemed like he was very passive aggressive and condescending. But such behavior would result in malevance. This of course led many to just believe that Faust just had very poor social skills and that his intentions were pure.

Suddenly a seraph exited the squire and said in a very dull tone, "Faust, it's time to go."

If Silas remembered correctly, Faust's seraph was named Komaeda. He was one of the few seraphim in service of the church that could cast illusionary artes to a high degree. But he creeped people more than Faust. Komaeda acted like he was bored with everything and he came off as a bit scary so none of the other seraphim would tell him to change his appearance. He had long dark hair that reached to his hips and red eyes. He also wore a long dark jacket with one of the sleeves ripped at the elbow and dark pants. But he had bandages covering his exposed arm. Not to mention his red eyes looked like they could look through you.

"You're right Komaeda, it wouldn't do if we were late," Faust said with a smile. "Sorry for leaving, but we must be going."

Silas and Lailah both gave a small bow toward Faust who did the same in return. Komaeda didn't. As they started to go their separate ways, Faust suddenly stopped. "Oh yeah," he said like he just remembered something. "If you're here to meet with the Pope, he's away on a very important mission right now. He probably won't return to for several days."

"I...I see," Silas forced himself to say calmly. But internally his frustration was building. _Why didn't he say that sooner?_ He thought bitterly. That thought was quickly replaced with a bit of disappointment. His uncle left without a word. It seemed like ever since he had become a Shepherd he had seen less of his uncle. Back when he had been a trainee, he and his uncle kept in touch quite often. He would even drop by or send word that he was leaving the church. But now the only time he saw him was on official business, which wasn't very often. Most of the time, his uncle would only send letters with important orders.

His uncle was the Pope. He had many important duties. Silas knew he couldn't just drop everything to speak with a nephew. But Silas at least thought he'd have time to speak with a Shepherd. Was Silas just a disappointment to his family?

 _"You may be a dummy,"_ Lady Edna started to say. " _But you're a Shepherd for a reason."_

"I think what Edna is trying to say is that she and I wouldn't be working with you if we didn't think you could do it," Lady Lailah offered.

Silas wasn't sure if Lady Lailah and Lady Edna just knew him well or if he was just that easy to read. Either way, he was grateful to their words. "Thank you," Silas told them. "I suppose we should go to our next assignment."


	8. Chapter 8: A Storyteller

Read, review, enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 8: A Storyteller**

They ended up picking up more things in the town. Grace and Aura had even picked out a new outfit for Ari. It was mainly Aura though since Grace was suggesting apparel that really made Ari look like a pirate. Aura had picked out a white dress shirt with dark shorts and suspenders. He really looked like a little gentleman. Grace wasn't thrilled with the look. But she didn't say much because not many would be able to see Ari. Sorey couldn't help but wonder with that logic why his original outfit wouldn't work.

Grace wasn't in much hurry to return to the ship. So they actually ended up exploring some and following Grace and Aura on their shopping. They certainly went to some strange shops. Rime was excited to finally explore more of a human town. Although Sorey wished that it was a nicer city. Of course it wasn't like they wouldn't go to another city.

Ari had a lot of adjustments. Even though very few people even heard him, he still jumped or hid behind Sorey like a shy child. But Sorey also couldn't really blame him since the all the people at Black Beach were kind of scary.

It was still strange though to Sorey. The town was filled with thieves and no telling what else, but there wasn't enough malevolence to do any serious harm. There was still a worry back of Sorey's mind that the town could just erupt in malevolence at any moment. It was pretty scary and he wasn't sure how well he could withstand it, especially with Rime. He was really worried for her.

They finally returned to the ship and were setting sail. As Sorey was about to brace himself for the sea sickness. Aura had made a comment that they had bought some tea to help ease his stomach and that she was brewing it for him. Rime went with her.

Ari had a look of both wonder and fear as they were heading out to sea.

They weren't far from land when there was a commotion. One of the pirates shouted, "Captain, we have a stowaway."

Grace had a pissed look on her face. "How did they sneak on without Aura knowing?" She demanded. But when her crew brought out the stowaway, the captain's look was replaced with an annoyed one.

The pirates bought out a woman dressed like a thief with a short top that showed her midriff and had a long purple scarf wrapped around her that looked like she could use it as a hood too. Her hair was short black with a weird hair pen that looked like it was of a spider.

When she saw Grace, she had a smile on her face. "Captain Aifread," she said in an almost sing-song voice.

Grace just looked plainly at her. "Mayvin, how the hell did you get on this ship?" Grace asked.

 _Mayvin_ , Sorey thought. He looked at the woman closer. Could she really be one of the storyteller Mayvins?

The hearing the name, the pirates released the woman and had the same annoyed look as Grace. The woman called Mayvin wore a smirk on her face. "Looks like all my hard work has paid off as I've finally created a spell that can fool even Aura's domain. Now there is no avoiding me Captain Aifread."

Suddenly a norman appeared on Mayvin's shoulder. It was a brown norman with a turban on its head. "With my power and Mayvin's spells, were practically invisible to all the senses," the norman said.

"Then I can still throw you overboard," Grace said. "I don't tolerate stowaways."

Mayvin and the norman had a startled look. "But there might be sharks out in the water," Mayvin said with a slight horror.

Sorey quickly walked over to the pirate captain. She may not have any clue about people called Mayvin. It couldn't be a coincidence that someone with the name Mayvin and traveling with a norman. "Grace," he started in a low voice. "You may not know, but people with the name Mayvin might be-"

But Grace interrupted him. "I know who and what she is," Grace snapped, not bothering to lower her voice. She looked back at Mayvin and said, "Besides, land isn't that far. You'll probably make before anything gets you."

"Come on Captain Aifread," Mayvin started to beg. "It's a win, win for both of us. I get a good tale, and you get another storyteller talking about Captain Grace Aifread's exploits."

Grace rubbed her brow. "You're getting off the next time we reach a port," Grace said simply. Mayvin gave a cheer. "By the way Mayvin, how the hell did you find me?" Grace asked.

At that, Mayvin pulled out a piece of parchment. "I would know your drawings anywhere Captain Aifread," Mayvin said with a smile. "I heard what happened at Arkala Harbor and just knew you'd be here."

Sorey's eyes widen when looked at the paper. It was the same wanted poster of Sorey they had seen at Arkala Harbor. It was the part where Mayvin said "your drawings" that made Sorey look at Grace. "You're drawing?" Sorey just repeated.

Grace just looked further annoyed. "What, you want me to say that I drew that and ratted you out at Arkala Harbor?"

"Did you?" Mikleo demanded. Although he and Sorey both knew the answer. Sorey felt so stupid for not realizing at the time. Getting attacked and Grace coming to the rescue; why didn't he see it sooner.

"Why?" Sorey just asked.

Grace just shrugged. "Why else, you had seraphim tethered to you and I was pissed you were just leaving because we fought that Shepherd."

Sorey clenched his fists. He felt betrayed. However he should have known better after finding out that Grace was a pirate. Why did he expect anything different from her? He was so angry at Grace and even himself. But he took a breath to calm himself. "The next time we make port, I'm getting off this ship," Sorey simply.

That actually startled Grace. She must have been expecting him to yell or something. "Hold up, the next time we're scheduled to port, we're going to still be in Rolance's kingdom. By now, I'm sure everyone will be looking for you and you'll be executed"

 _Don't act like_ _you care_ ,Sorey thought bitterly. "I'd rather take my chances than stay on this ship any longer," he told her.

Grace then gave Sorey such a look that it gave him the same feeling he had back when he stopped her from fighting Silas. The look alone would have been enough to make weaker men crumble. Sorey stood his ground. "I'm still a pirate. No one leaves this ship without my say," Grace told him.

"Forcing me to stay on this ship is the only way you're getting me to stay," Sorey said standing his ground.

"That's fine by me," Grace threatened.

Mikleo moved so he was next to Sorey. Grace was about to reach into her coat when flames appeared in between them. Aura stood and glanced back from Grace to Sorey with a look like a disapproving mother. "This is my domain," Aura repeated, probably to Mikleo really. "It would be best for all of use not to fight out in the middle of the sea."

She was right. Aura still had the advantage out at sea. And Sorey also didn't want to put Ari in the middle of all of that.

"I'm leaving as soon as we get to a town," Sorey ended as he started walking back below the ship. It was best he and Grace separated.

"I didn't mean to get involved in some lover's quarrel," Sorey could hear the woman Mayvin say. He was in too foul a mood to make any kind of comment.

Mikleo and Ari followed Sorey they all sat down at his bedroll. He was so angry that he could barely feel his sea sickness. "Sorey, are you okay?" Mikleo asked.

"Sorry Mikleo, I should have listened to you," Sorey said.

Mikleo just folded his arms. "I never would have thought this. I just don't get what Grace wants with us," he muttered.

"I-Is Grace, not a good person?" Ari then asked.

Poor Ari. Sorey wasn't sure if they should have brought the young earth seraph with them. Mikleo gave the small kid a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "We're not really sure," Mikleo said to ease the boy's feelings. No point in worrying him that they were with a bad person. "But everything's okay." Ari just nodded, though he didn't look too convinced.

"I'm just so stupid," Sorey muttered. He felt sick, but not because of the sea. He couldn't believe he had compared Grace to Rose. Rose may have been an assassin, but she had her honor and really cared about people. Grace was a pirate. She really didn't care about anyone but herself. He was just so mad at himself for thinking that. "If Rose were here she'd-" But Sorey stopped himself from finishing the thought.

 _Rose...Alisha…_ he started thinking of her and his other human friends. His first human friends...And they weren't here. They had died a long time ago. He would never see them again. He had never thought of them like this before.

"S-Sorey?" Ari asked in a startled tone.

"You okay?" Mikleo asked.

Sorey gripped the front of his shirt. _Stupid,_ Sorey scolded himself. He was letting despair getting the better of him. His chest was hurting, there was no telling what his friends were thinking. He forced a smile. "I'm good," Sorey forced out.

He shouldn't complain. He still had Mikleo, and he really liked that he met Rime and Ari. Plus Lailah, Edna, and Zaveid were still around. Even though...Lailah and Edna are traveling with a new Shepherd...Of course they couldn't have just dropped everything when he came back, he told himself. But Zaveid...He didn't even want to continue traveling with Sorey. But maybe he did have something else to do.

Things weren't going to be the same. He knew that when he woke up and realized how much time passed. Yet why did his chest and eyes hurt so much?

"Sorey," Rime's voice called out in a worried voice. Sorey looked up to see the wind seraph holding a cup that must be the tea and also Aura next to her. "Is your sea sickness getting that bad?" She asked.

He told her he was fine. Mikleo however was looking at Aura. "What exactly are you do you want?" He asked the fire seraph.

"I was going to let you know I'm going to talk with Grace about letting you go. It would be best for you all to leave as soon as possible," Aura answered simply.

"I couldn't agree more," Mikleo muttered. "But Aura, you should really consider leaving this ship too. There is no telling when this ship could be overrun with malevolence. I'm surprised Grace hasn't already turned into one."

Aura ignored him and just looked at Sorey. Rime was about to hand Sorey the tea when the fire seraph stopped Rime. "Boy, let it out. What is wrong?"

"Really, I'm fine," Sorey repeated. He would feel better if people would quit asking that. "Just the seasickness coming."

"Sorey," Aura said with such a tone that it startled Sorey. "This is my domain and not much happens without my knowing. It isn't healthy for you humans to keep emotions like these back. You need to release them, otherwise you'll start affecting your own resonance and the seraphim tethered to you. And I'm sure the wind seraph wouldn't be able to handle that."

The prickling sensation in his eyes intensified. But he fought it back. It was fine. He didn't want to complain in front of his friends and on a pirate ship.

Then Aura said, "Go on, it's fine to express how you're feeling."

It was like Aura gave him permission to and his eyes just let out the tears. It startled the others to see him crying. Sorey felt slightly embarrassed. But only enough to cover his eyes with his sleeve. "They're gone," he said and he was still choking back some cries. "Rose and Alisha...They're gone and I'm still here. I didn't even get to say good-bye to them." Maybe deep down, he had expected that he'd get to see them one more time after he woke up.

He felt a hand on the back of his neck and heard Mikleo say, "Your feelings reached them. And they lived their lives to the fullest."

It was good to hear that. But it didn't help the feeling in his chest. He missed them so bad.

/~/~/

The next morning Sorey woke up feeling like he had gotten the best night of sleep on this ship so far. He fell asleep crying. He hadn't felt any better, but it didn't relieve a lot of the pressure that the seraphim didn't seem to notice.

It was early in the morning and went to make more of the tea to help settle his stomach. He never got a chance to drink it last night.

When he reached the deck, he saw Mayvin standing in front of Tokunaga who was in front of the captain's quarters. "For the last time Mayvin, beat it before I throw you overboard," Tokunaga said in his dull tone.

Mayvin wasn't fazed. "Have a heart Tokunaga. I just want to talk more with Captain Aifread," she complained.

"You kept the Captain up all night trying to get into her quarters," Tokunaga said. "She's tired and needs a rest."

Mayvin pouted and turned away seeing as she wouldn't get past Tokunaga. But then she saw Sorey. She gave Sorey a quizzical look as she approached him. "So, you're Captain Aifread's lover, right?"

"Absolutely not," Sorey said simply. He didn't even want to consider Grace a friend.

Mayvin actually gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I was afraid Captain Aifread's taste were going or something," she said.

"Are the two of you friends or something?" Sorey asked. He had chosen to ignore what Mayvin had said. He didn't care about meeting Grace's standards anyway.

Mayvin blushed at that. "Perish the thought," she said in a blushing girl way. "Although if Captain Aifread wanted me alone, I wouldn't say no." She startled giggling at that with the blush still on her face.

The norman that had appeared with her before popped out. "I'm sorry about Mayvin," the norman apologized. "She gets this way when she's with her "muse" as she calls it."

"I've actually been meaning to ask this," Mikleo started to ask. "Are you really The Storyteller Mayvin?"

That snapped Mayvin out of whatever was on her mind. She held her hand out and said. "The one and only at this time," she said. "I chase down interesting stories to add to the Storyteller Collection. I hunt down only the best."

"So why are you interested in Grace?" Sorey had to ask.

Mayvin rolled her eyes. "Why wouldn't I want to get a story from the Dreaded Pirate Van Aifread. Ever since I was a little kid, I've been enthralled with the tales of Van Aifread. So of course I have to get plenty of story's about her."

"But the stories you would have heard would have been of a different Van Aifread," Mikleo pointed out.

"Well duh," Mayvin said. "I'll admit, I was slightly disappointed. But she's still Van Aifread and I get the same chills from hearing about her exploits."

Sorey and Mikleo didn't know what to say. But it was Rime who spoke up and randomly changed the subject. "Oh," she exclaimed like she just realized something. "I just remembered who you are."

At first they thought she was talking about Mayvin. But it was the norman that was startled. "Y-you remember me?" He asked.

"Yeah, you were at the ruins I lived in," Rime explained. "You told me my name was Rime, and then you just left. Sorry, what was your name again?"

The norman let out a sigh. "Of course," he said. "It was a brief encounter. My name is Origin. Nice to see you again."

So the norman was also in the ruins with Rime. This might actually be a good chance to learn more about them.

But before he could even ask, the door to Grace's cabin burst open. "Tokunaga, change the ship's course west," Grace ordered.

"Aya captain," Tokunaga said as he started shouting orders to change the ship's direction.

"Where are we going?" Mikleo asked. "I thought we were heading to a port town."

Grace wore that same smile as she held up a small note. "Velk just sent a message. He's got intel on a Divine Artifact. And I'm getting it."


	9. Chapter 9: Hellion

Read, review, enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Hellion**

Grace was quickly over seeing the ships redirection while Sorey and Mayvin were following her. Aura appeared in front of Grace from her flames. "We talked about this last night," Aura said. "We need to let the boy and the storyteller off this ship."

Grace just gave her first mate an annoyed look. "And let the Church get a hold of it first? No thank you," Grace told her. "I want to get ahead of this."

"Are you even sure that it was Velk that sent it?" Aura then asked. "It hasn't even been a day and he's already sent word that he found a Divine Artifact. Don't you think that's a bit suspicious?"

"Don't care," Grace just replied. "A lead is a lead. Rumors come from something."

Sorey was a bit irritated with the sudden change. He was looking forward to not being on this ship anymore. He could understand from Grace's perspective. Word could spread if it was a rumor. But he really was wondering why she was wanting a Divine Artifact that badly. Surely it couldn't just be for the gald.

Then Grace told Tokunaga to head to the Western Sea Cave, which was a very small island that was mostly just caves under the sea. Sorey and Mikleo had briefly discussed whether they should just stay off the ship when they got there so they could part ways with Grace. However, they soon realized that they would be stranded there with the only likely people to help them to be more pirates. They might as well stay with the pirates they knew.

So until they were on the mainland, they were stuck with Grace's crew.

"Captain Aifread, I'd love to be there when you finally claim a Divine Artifact," Mayvin chimed in.

Grace looked annoyed at the storyteller, but still didn't look at her the way she looked at Sorey the day before. "The second you start to get in the way, you're staying in that cave," Grace threatened.

Mayvin had a large smile on her face and seemed to be fighting back the urge to cheer in delight. Sorey really didn't get why Mayvin was so excited about that.

Grace then looked at Sorey. "What about you?" She asked. "Are you going to have an issue with this?"

 _Why do you care what I think?_ Sorey wondered. "Whatever," Sorey muttered. "But why are you wanting a Divine Artifact so badly?" She was willing to follow a rumor for a Divine Artifact. It slightly worried him why she could want it.

The pirate captain just rolled her eyes at him. "Geez, you're such a choir boy," she complained. "Do you know how much gald we're going to get from it."

That couldn't be the reason. He looked at Grace to see if he could tell what she was thinking. She wasn't telling the truth, he knew that much. But he still couldn't see what she was really planning.

"Well you'll be able to see for yourself," Grace suddenly said as she kept walking around shouting orders.

This not only startled Sorey, but Aura as well. "Captain, you don't really aim to bring him with you, do you?" Aura asked. Sorey chose to ignore that since he didn't really wish to go with Grace to begin with.

"Not you too," Grace complained. "You know the saying, keep your enemies close."

"Enemy?" Mikleo exclaimed.

"Well yeah," Grace said when she stopped to look at them. "I'm bringing Aura with me. And with her gone, you might be more willing to take over my ship."

"I don't want your ship," Sorey told her bitterly.

Grace shrugged. "Not risking it. I work too damn hard to get this ship to have it stolen by the likes of you."

He briefly wondered what she meant by that. But he just gave a frustrated sigh. The sooner they got done with this, the sooner he could part ways from Grace.

/~/~/

The Western Sea Cave was pretty much just how Sorey imagined them to be. Although the island part was a lot bigger than he thought it would be. It was the size of a small village with some tropical looking trees and other plants on it. Sorey had never seen these kinds of plants and have only read about them. But he was still in too much of a sour mood to enjoy them.

They couldn't get too close with the Van Eltia because there was no telling where the underwater caves were and how close they were to the surface. That meant Sorey was going to have to get in a row boat with Grace again.

It was a lot tighter with four people; Sorey Grace, Mayvin, and Aura. Sorey wasn't sure what they would have done if Mikleo, Rime, and Ari didn't dwell inside him. The rocking in the row boat was far worse than on the ship. The waves seemed to throw them around and Sorey wasn't sure if they would be able to reach the sea cave. Sorey was a least grateful that Grace was a good sailor. They probably would have capsized if it was someone less.

When they finally reached the island, Sorey couldn't get off the boat fast enough. And Grace didn't want to waste any more time like they were in some kind of race. "I'm not waiting for any of you," she said. "So don't blame me if you get left behind." Sorey didn't like it, but he followed Grace into the cave.

The cave would have been dark if it wasn't for Aura lighting their way. Just as they were about out of sight of the entrance and sunlight, Rime suddenly stopped and asked, "Maybe we could just wait outside. It's not like you need us or anything."

Sorey didn't see the need for him and the others to accompany Grace any further. But he didn't really want to just sit around and wait by the row boat either. Honestly it probably would just be better to go with Grace rather than wait.

"I told you I'm not risking you all taking my ship," Grace repeated.

"No one wants you ship," Sorey said dully. He could tell that the pirate captain wasn't going to budge on that. Sorey looked back at Rime, but stopped when he saw her face.

She was sweating and looking like she was expecting someone to jump out to scare her. Sorey could feel that the wind seraph seemed nervous. "Rime, what's wrong?" Ari asked.

Rime couldn't mask her feelings. "I just don't see why I need to go," she said.

"Rime," Sorey started asked. "Are you afraid of being underground?" She used to live in ruins, so he at first couldn't see how that was possible. But then he remembered that the majority of those ruins were above ground with no roof.

The wind seraph looked sheepish. "Well you all said it yourself, I'm work out crazy. So what if I cause us to be buried alive?"

"Come on, this place has to be sturdy if it's under the ocean," Grace said, but she sounded a bit annoyed about the hold up.

"Well, we don't have any options," Mikleo said. "We don't know how far we'll have to go and you can't be away from Sorey. I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Don't worry Miss Rime," Origin began to add. "These tunnels have been here for hundreds of years. They are plenty strong."

"Come on, we don't have all day," Grace then said impatiently.

/~/~/

 **Skit: Claustrophobia**

 ***Rumbling noise***

 **Rime** startled: Ahh, it's collapsing!

 **Sorey** : Oh, sorry, that was my stomach.

 **Rime** : …

 **Ari** : You're really scared.

 **Rime** : Just what are we going to do if we get stuck down here?

 **Sorey** : Ari, since you're an earth seraph, wouldn't you be able to keep that from happening?

 **Ari** looking unsure: I don't know. I can feel that I have better control with my kendama. But I doubt I'd be able to do something like that.

 **Rime** :...

 **Aura** : Wind is superior to earth. As long as you react, you won't be trapped.

 **Rime** : Is this when you tell me I can't because I'm just some second-rate seraph?

 **Aura** : ...I'm sure even you would be able to do it.

 **Rime** starts walking away.

 **Sorey** : That seemed to have calmed her down bit. That was kind of you even though you've been tough on her.

 **Aura** : Some people just don't see how much fear can affect even the seraphim. *Walks off.

 **Sorey** : Aura?

/~/~/

Rimes nerves never settled. She panicked each time there was a rumble and it made Sorey feel the same thing. It really made Sorey wonder what had happened to her. He planned to ask Mikleo more about those ruins. He wanted to help Rime.

There was little time for that since they were suddenly attacked by hellions. They were just spirit hellions that were typical in caves and ruins. Without the powers of purification, they were much tougher to defeat. For the most part they could only scare them off.

This was Ari's first battle and he didn't know what to do. He was clutching his kendama and staying close to Sorey, which made it difficult to fight. It also didn't help that Rime was still no closer to calming down. In fact, she kept telling Ari that he shouldn't use his powers in fear that it would cause the cave to collapse. And that just made Ari more nervous about doing anything.

"This is just annoying," Grace complained as she swung her sword.

"They must be drawn to something," Mikleo commented fighting back a hellion.

"For all we know they could be attracted to the nervous energies two certain seraphim," Aura commented. She glanced back briefly at Rime and Ari.

Ari flinched. "I..I'm sorry," he said over the noise.

"There could be a number of reasons," Sorey reassured. He didn't want to put any blame on them.

"Aura, can't you do something about this?" Grace asked.

"I might be able to scare them off," the fire seraph said. "Get ready to duck." Flames started to appear in front of Aura in her hands. They started getting bigger and the fire seraph said, "Now."

Sorey and the others quickly followed her orders. None of them wanted to experience the fire seraph's power. Sorey could feel the intense heat on his back. Over the flames, he could hear the spirits retreating.

With the roaring of the flames gone, Sorey raised his head up. All the hellions were gone. Sorey couldn't believe he forgot how strong Aura was. She was strong enough to be a lord of the land. "Thanks Aura," Sorey said. It was a relief not to fight all those hellions. Hopefully that kept them away for a while.

"Come on, we need to get moving," Grace ordered as she started walking again.

"W-what do we do if those things attack," Ari asked.

"We'll just fight them off again," Grace said.

"The more fights you do, the more exciting the story will be," Mayvin practically cheered.

Grace ignored her and Aura just said, "Storyteller, you should hope we don't have many more fights like if you don't-" But the fire seraph suddenly stopped. Her expression was always serious, yet Sorey could tell that something big must have caught her attention.

"You were going to say until we're buried alive, weren't you?" Rime commented with a hint of panic in her voice.

"Hush," Aura said sharply and that made every stay still. Sorey didn't hear anything, but there was no doubt what someone like Aura was able to sense.

Sorey could only see the side of Grace's face when she turned to look back at Aura. "Why do I have a feeling that this is going to suck?" The pirate captain commented bitterly.

Before Sorey could even ask, Grace and Aura jumped forward as the ground began to shake. Rime and Ari then gave a startled cry that it almost made Sorey miss seeing giant ice shards that grew out of the ground where Grace and Aura had been standing. It was only there for a moment before the whole tunnel began shaking.

Sorey felt Mikleo grab his arm and pull him back. They both fell back and by the time he got his surroundings back, he saw that the path they had been following had caved in. The other seraphim tethered to him were fine and Mayvin was too. Sorey quickly got up and ran to the rocks. It wasn't fully blocked with a hole at the top that he could probably fit his arm through. "Grace. Aura," Sorey called out. The rocks were right where they had been standing.

Instead of responding to him, he heard Grace shout, "That damn bastard. I'm going to make him pay." Then he heard her running.

"Grace," he heard Aura shout. It was then followed by hearing her running.

"Wait," Sorey shouted after them. But he knew they didn't hear him.

He looked back at his friends and Mayvin. "Something is going on," he said urgently. "We need to go after Grace and Aura." He was worried something would happen. He may be angry with Grace, but he still didn't want her to get hurt because he couldn't help her.

"But we're blocked," Rime said. "What if we're trapped?"

"I doubt that," Mikleo said. "That wasn't natural. It was water seraphic artes. And high level ones at that."

"If you look at it that way," Mayvin started to speculate, "it sounds like it might have been a trap by the Church." She had looked serious, but then she smiled. "Oh, how will this end? Will my dear Captain Aifread be able to triumph of the Church's trap or is this the end of her tale? Oh, the anticipation is killing me." She was putting on theatrics as she was talking now.

Suddenly, they could hear a cry that may have belonged to Aura. They may have run into more hellions, or worse it was a trap by the Church. They had to do something.

Sorey looked at Ari and gently placed his hands on his shoulders. "Ari, can you move those rocks?"

The young seraphim looked like Sorey asked him to move a mountain. "I-I don't know? What if I make it worse?"

"Yeah, what if moving those rocks causes the whole cave to fall on us?" Rime exclaimed.

For now he had to ignore Rime's fear if they wanted to help Aura and Grace. "You're an earth seraph, there's nothing you can't do," Sorey told the young seraph. "And we'll be right with you."

Ari nervously nodded and tightened his hold on his kendama. He took a few tentative steps toward the rocks. The kendama gave off a faint glow as Ari closed his eyes to concentrate. After a moment, he moved the kendama like he was going to punch with it. The motion gave a vibration to the whole cave that made Rime cower more in fear.

But the result was that the young earth seraph created a hole big enough for everyone to squeeze through. Ari gave a sigh of relief.

"That was great Ari," Sorey quickly complemented as he hurried through the hole. The others crawled through with Mayvin. Sorey then asked, "Mayvin, this might be dangerous so you should head back to the ship." If she did, he could ask her to take Ari with her.

"And miss this? No way," she said.

"No offence, but you don't really look like you're combat ready," Mikleo commented.

"I haven't a clue about fighting," Mayvin replied with confidence for some reason. "I'm only good with illusion spells and being sneaky."

Sorey was about to tell Mayvin she really needed to get to a safe place when just further they could see steam flowing toward them. It also brought what sounds like Aura fighting. There was no time. "Just keep your distance," Sorey quickly said as he hurried to the source.

The air in the cave was getting stuffy as they were getting closer to what was causing all the steam. Sorey rounded a turn and had to jump back to avoid a torrent water. Mikleo had been behind him and was able to redirect the water so it didn't hit anyone.

Aura had her saber out as she was fighting a water seraph. The seraph was dressed like she belonged with the church and had long, deep sea blue hair. In her hand was just a simple wand. There were three orbs of water floating above her.

With the flick of her wand, ice shards shot out of the water orbs right toward Aura. The fire seraph brought her hands up to create a wall of fire. The fire melted the ice shards that created the steam. But the Aura wasn't able melt all of them. Though much smaller and not as sharp, a few managed to get through the fire wall and hit Aura. One still had its sharpness and it caught Aura in the shoulder.

"Aura," Sorey called out as he ran over to the seraph. Aura reached up to the shard sticking out of her shoulder and it started melting in her hand. Mikleo started healing the wound.

"Begone human," the water seraph scolded. "Our concern is the Pirate Van Aifread. Do not get involved."

"So this was a trap," Sorey muttered. There was a part of him that wanted to just leave. Grace got herself into this. But he just couldn't believe she would have just let Aura like this. Sorey just couldn't abandon Aura.

"You need to get to Grace," Aura told Sorey. She cast more fire toward the water seraph. "She may be able to handle church peons, but she's fighting against Shepherd Myung. They planned to separate Grace and I."

Sorey felt the same worry as Aura. Grace would be up against a Shepherd and his seraphim. There was no way she could handle that on her own.

"Wait a minute," Mikleo said as he looked at the other water seraph. "She's a Prime Lord. Why isn't she with the Shepherd?"

Wait, the Prime Lord? Why was she here fighting Aura rather than with the Shepherd?

As if answering, the water seraph said, "Shepherd Myung requested to fight the pirate alone. So none of you are allowed to interfere. You must get through me." More orbs of water appeared around her and the air suddenly started getting colder. Sorey was able to see his breath. Sorey was able to see his breath. But the water seraph wasn't making a move to fight them. So she must not want to really fight them.

"I'll make an opening," Aura said as she gathered mana around her. "Go get Grace. Shepherd Myung is the strongest the Church has," Aura ordered.

"We can't just leave you here," Sorey told her. Aura was strong. But to go up against a Prime Lord? And who knew if this water seraph has a Divine Artifact. Then she wouldn't stand a chance.

"Aura, you're at a disadvantage against a water seraph," Mikleo told her.

"I'm well aware," Aura snapped. "But she won't let me get to Grace. Don't worry, I have fought this seraph before."

"Aura," Sorey started to say. He couldn't just leave her here. Maybe if they call worked together they could-

"Please, make sure Grace is okay," Aura said, almost begging. Sorey could see it in her eyes just how important Grace was to the seraphim.

"Go on Sorey, I'll fight with Aura," Mikleo volunteered. Mikleo had his staff out. "Mayvin, can you use a spell to help all of you get past her?"

"Anything for Captain Aifread," Mayvin cheered.

"When we make an opening, run," Aura said as she got ready. "And please, tell Grace that we need to leave."

"I will," Sorey said.

In under a minute, Aura was able to create a large bust of flames to go right at the water seraph. Sorey and the others then took off running. Mikleo must have been keeping the Prime Lord from using the water and Mayvin had used a spell to help hide their presence.

They were able to get past the water seraph and Sorey could hear Mikleo shout, "Your fight is with us."

 _Be safe,_ Sorey prayed as they kept running.

Then Rime made a comment like, "What if all this fighting makes us get stuck down here forever?"

Origin said something to her, but Sorey was too busy listening to the fighting sounds ahead. He could still hear the seraphim fighting behind them, but he could definitely hear Grace fighting. They weren't far.

They came to a wide area that had an opening far above their heads that gave enough light. There was even a small lake. And right next to it was Grace having a sword fight with Shepherd Myung.

Shepherd Myung looked to a few years older than Sorey and had messy black hair. He was wearing what looked like clothing a samurai would wear and a coat that looked like it belonged to the Church. He fought with katana.

Just as they came into the view, Sorey had no choice but to watch as the Shepherd stuck Grace with a powerful arte that sent her flying into the cave wall. And there was so much blood on the Shepherd's sword from where he struck her across the chest.

"Grace," Sorey shouted. There was no way someone could survive that. If only Mikleo were here with his healing artes. Sorey started to hurry over to her to see if there was anything he could do to help her.

But he stopped when he heard laughter. And not just any kind of laughter. The kind that made normal people freeze when hearing. He watched as Grace got up, chest still bleeding. Her eye patch had fallen off and Sorey could see there was a dark marks on the that side of her face and a red eye. But worse of all, there was a dark aura coming off of Grace. Malevance.

"No," Sorey muttered as he was watching the malevolence grow on Grace.

"About time you showed your true colors, hellion," Shepherd Myung said as he got ready to fight some more. Grace gave a feral cry and dashed toward the Shepherd with more force than before.

/~/~/

 _"I don't understand?" Sorey asked. "Are you saying hellions should live peacefully with humans and seraphim? Malevolence is practically poisonous to the seraphim."_

 _"Again, you're not wrong," Maotelus said. Then he let out a sigh. "I guess I really am too much of a softie. Maybe the world I want is too idealistic."_

 _It then dawned to Sorey. "Maotelus, did you have friends that were hellions?"_

 _He didn't hesitate. "Yes. They were scary sometimes, and very reckless. One of them threatened to eat me a lot. But they were still very much human. They had dreams they couldn't let go and people they cared so much about. Even now, I don't think their existence is wrong and I wouldn't want to change them." But Maotelus looked at Sorey's baffled expression and quickly went on further. "Please don't worry, I bestowed the power of purification so people could have a second chance at a normal human life. So death wasn't the only option for them. But there were a few of my friends that weren't affected at all."_

 _"And you wouldn't want to see them get killed," Sorey said out loud. A part of him understood his feelings. If any of his friends became helions, he'd go to the ends of the earth to try and save them before resorting to death._


End file.
